A Link Between Games
by Technetium2
Summary: Chrom and his Shepherds are once again off to stop a war, but they run into a mysterious warrior along the way. Can they save the world from two threats as old as the world itself?
1. Chapter 1

**All franchises within belong to Nintendo and any other copyright holders. If they belonged to me, this would already be a thing.**

He could feel that something was wrong. It wasn't just the fact that they were on yet another march to stop another war from breaking out; no, there was something else. He furrowed his brow in concentration, trying to will his inherent magical abilities to tell him what was wrong.

"Robin?" a concerned voice called to him. He looked over and saw his wife, Lissa, looking on him with extreme worry. "Are you alright? You don't normally make THAT face when we're on a march."

He reached out and squeezed her hand, putting a false smile on his face. "It's nothing."

"Good! If it was something, I might have had to tell big brother!"

"Lissa, please don't bring Chrom into this. I already have a difficult enough time with him as it is. Being his brother-in-law seems to tell him that we need to spend as much time together as possible."

"Did I hear brother-in-law?" Chrom's voice called from in front of them. The blue-haired exalt began to slow down so he could catch up.

"And he apparently has the ears of a taugel when I use that word." Lissa began to giggle as Chrom caught up.

"What's all the laughing about?"

"It's… nothing… big brother…" Lissa barely managed to get out between the laughs.

"Okay… so, how's married life treating you two?"

"Amazingly." Robin said for the both of them. "I haven't been pranked for nearly three hours. You know, now that it's been gone for so long, I kind of miss it." Lissa's giggling stopped, but the smile was still plastered on her face, and Robin saw the look of mischief now welling up in her eyes. "That doesn't mean I'm done with our prank break!" He hurriedly said before the look got too intense.

Lissa gave a sigh. "Okay. This still means you owe ME a favour later!"

"Look at you two. Only married for four months, but you still have the flare of your first date," Chrom laughed. "I'd better get back to Sumia. She's still worried about Lucina, and I have to do all I can to comfort her."

"You sure it isn't the other way around?" Robin smirked, earning him a light punch in the arm from Chrom before he walked off. "Now that he's gone, wanna tell me what that giggling fit was about?"

Lissa's grin grew wide as she recounted her wild imagination. "When you said 'he has the ears of a taugel', I imagined him as one. He looked silly enough from the back, but when I saw his bunny face, I could hardly hold it in!" They both began to laugh at the half-rabbit Chrom in their heads as everyone else rolled their eyes.

One hour later, and Robin still couldn't shake the feeling. In fact, it had been getting stronger and stronger as time passed.

"HELP US!" A voice rang out from the distance.

"Shepherds! Let's go!" Chrom called to them, and the band of armed warriors sped in the direction of the cry. They found three villagers, all unarmed, being chased by Risen. The nearby village seemed to be refusing to let them in.

"Robin, any ideas?" Chrom said to his chief tactician.

"Well,-" Robin began, but was cut short by what happened next. Beside the villagers, a bright light began to shine out. It had the shape of three triangles made to be a bigger triangle, and the light grew steadily brighter, forcing the dark creatures to stand back from it. Inside this curious shape, Robin could make out the outline of a person. The outline then became a reality, throwing a young man onto the ground beside the lead villager. The bright light still obscured his features, but Robin could tell that he carried a sword and shield. Then, in one swift motion, the man drew his blade and cut down the nearest Risen as the light began to fade. With techniques the Ylisseans had never seen before, he slew the other nearby Risen, turning them into their signature purple mist. With the blinding light now completely gone, Robin stood in awe of the man before them; though now Robin could tell that this wasn't a man. He looked closer to the age of 17, clad in mostly green with probably the strangest hat any of them had ever seen. His shield was blue with silver decor, and his sword, while very impressive, had a purple hilt.

"Who is that?" Chrom said, drawing Falchion. Robin knew that Chrom would fight anyone that looked like even a remote danger to his citizens, so he knew he had to act fast.

"Chrom, don't!" He shouted at the Exalt. Chrom turned to him in mild confusion. "Whoever he is, he appears to be helping those villagers. For now, we need to focus on the Risen. We can deal with _him_ after those villagers are safe."

Chrom sighed. "Alright. Give us our strategy, Robin, before those things get near my people."

"Right." Robin looked around the area, thought for a minute, then called out to the Shepherds. "Virion, Sully, you two head out towards the bridge. Stop any Risen nearby and don't let them take it. Chrom, Sumia, head down through the forest and stop any Risen down that way. Kellam- where is he?"

"Here!" the knight's voice rang out.

"Good. You and Donnel go with Chrom and Sumia. Take out any they may have missed. Lissa, you're with me. We're going to stay by the villagers and hopefully talk to that kid." Lissa nodded in agreement. "Okay everyone, let's go!" And with that, the team moved into their designated positions. Robin and Lissa raced towards the small group of people sitting with only one protector. They killed all the Risen they could along the way, Robin with his Elthunder tome and Lissa with her Fire tome. When they got close to the villagers, the boy turned to them with a menacing look. _Just try it,_ was what his whole body seemed to be saying.

"We're not here to hurt you!" Robin tried to reason with the boy, "we want to help. I'm Robin, and this is my wife, Lissa. We're here with the Exalt." The green-clad warrior's expression didn't change, but Robin heard one of the villagers gasp.

"Please don't fight them! They're on our side!" the villager said to the boy. He glanced at the villager momentarily before looking back at Robin and Lissa and nodded. He then turned away from them and struck down another Risen that had gotten too close for his liking. The three of them worked together to keep the unarmed villagers safe. Lightning and fire cascaded around the small section of trees they were in, the steel of a sword flashed every time it moved, and the cheers of the villagers could be heard in the nearby town.

Once the Risen had been taken care of, the Shepherds rendezvoused at Robin's location. Lissa jumped into Robin, almost knocking him to the ground, both of them laughing and smiling. The warrior relaxed and sheathed his weapons, knowing that the danger was now over.

"Well done, Robin!" Chrom patted the tactician's back. "I knew taking you in was a good idea."

"Thanks, _brother._ " Robin smirked at Chrom as he said this, and Chrom returned it.

"Now, what are we going to do about this one?" Chrom turned to the boy in green. "Tell me, what's your name?" The boy reached pulled up his left hand and reached for his strange sword. Chrom's hand instantly went to Falchion, but it was unnecessary. To everyone's surprise, the boy took his sword and began to write in the snow. When he was finished, he pointed to the single word on the ground before them. "Link? Is that your name?" Chrom asked. The boy nodded.

"Why didn't you just say that was your name instead of writing it?" Robin inquired. When the boy gave him a strange look, something clicked in Robin's head. "Can you talk?" the boy shook his head.

"Whaaaat?!" Lissa cut in. "But during the battle, you were all like 'Hah! Hup! Heyah!' are those the only noises you can make?" Link smiled and nodded. Robin also smiled, but only because of Lissa's impression of Link.

"We could certainly use someone of your skills, Link. Would you like to join the Shepherds?" Chrom asked.

"Milord," Frederick quickly intervened. "Are you sure that's wise? We have no idea how the boy got here, or if he is merely a spy for Valm." Chrom gave the great knight quite the glare, which Frederick ignored. "Even though our last blind recruitment turned out well," he looked at Robin, "I must, once again, emphasize caution."

Chrom sighed. "Again, Frederick, I don't have a bad feeling about this one, even if he is wearing probably the strangest clothes I have ever seen. I was right before, and I think I will be again." Chrom then turned back to Link, who had been intently listening in on the whole conversation. "So, Link, will you join us?" For a minute, all was silent. Link's face contorted in so many ways that Lissa had a very difficult time not laughing, to the point where Robin had to put his hand over her mouth. Finally, Link gave the blue-haired Lord a smile, and vigorously nodded. "Excellent!" Chrom practically cheered. "Come, we'll show you to the rest of the Shepherds."

As they walked back to the convoy that was guarded by the remaining shepherds, the feeling that Robin had been having began to die down. It didn't go away, though, and that had Robin worried. He kept up a good facade, smiling and laughing along with Lissa as the convoy neared.

In the trees just beyond the village, another light appeared. The three triangles once again produced a figure, clad in clothes not of this realm. But this time, he had an aura of evil around him. He watched as his prey joyously walked with a band of people that were clearly strong adversaries. He figured that in this weakened state, he couldn't take them on. Once he regained his full power, he would crush them where they stood. "I'm coming for you, Link." His deep voice growled through the dense woods. "The triforce of courage will be mine. And this time, you have no Princess of Twilight to save you." he began chuckling, which quickly grew into a fearsome laugh, giving the village inhabitants nightmares for weeks to come.

 **A/N: Whew, first chapter done. Actually, this is my first fanfic, so please tell me if anyone seems OOC. The Robin here, for those who are interested, is just the base Robin. Link is the one from Twilight Princess, so he already has a love interest in Ilia, for those of you hoping that I would pair him with someone from FE. Though, I will be pairing up others along the way, if I get around to it, so please tell me any pairs you may want to have via review. Robin is already taken by Lissa, so no Robin pairings. Anyway, thanks for reading my first fanfiction, and if you have any concerns or criticisms, please tell me in the review. I hope you liked it!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Mew29240, you have good taste in supports! I wholeheartedly approve, and I will try to work it in where I can. It won't be focussed on, but it will be there.**

Link seemed to be getting along well with the assorted warriors. Despite his lack of voice, Robin saw him laughing along with the other Shepherds and generally enjoying himself. They had really taken to the otherworldly traveller, what with Sully congratulating him on his tough fighting, Vaike requesting Link to be his apprentice, Lon'qu actually smiling at the boy and Miriel poking and prodding at his clothes. Robin, however, was more interested in his weapons. Now that he could get a closer look, Robin could see the details of the curious implements. On it appeared to be some sort of stylized red bird, with the same three triangles that he had come through highlighted in gold. But there was one thing that stood out above all that: the shield didn't have a scratch on it. Robin was sure that Link had blocked several slashes from the Risen with it, and he knew that he hadn't repaired it. Robin would have to ask him later.

"Well, he seems to be fitting in!" A familiar voice startled Robin out of his musings.

"Lissa! Gods, you surprised me!" Robin turned and looked at the smiling Sage.

"Good! All that thinking will make your head explode, you know." She playfully winked at him.

"I can't help it. I still have that strange feeling, and I'm also extremely curious about our newest member. A mute, incredibly skilled swordsman who came through yet **another** portal right next to us. Why are we portal magnets?"

"Maybe we're just lucky!" Lissa smiled, and Robin couldn't help but smile as well.

When the sun began to set, Chrom ordered the party to stop. With everything that had gone on that day, everyone was absolutely exhausted; everyone but Link. He still looked like he could walk for another couple of hours before he really got tired. Chrom decided to make a comment about this to Robin as they began to set up their tents.

"How can he not be as tired as us? He walked the whole way, and he survived being smothered by the Shepherds."

"I don't know." Robin tilted his head slightly to look at Link. He was wandering aimlessly around camp, attempting to help where needed. "Maybe he does this kind of thing all the time. He might even have to."

"Gods, I can't imagine a world where you'd have to be on the move all the time."

"Chrom, we practically do that now!"

"Yeah, but we have people with us. We can get rides on caravans. He may not even have a horse."

"Fair enough." Robin noticed the boy walking into the woods. "Link!" He shouted over to him. The man in green turned to face the tactician. "Don't go too far, or you'll miss the call for dinner." Link nodded, and disappeared amongst the trees. "Wonder where he's going."

That evening found Robin and Frederick heading towards a fenced-off area. Frederick had asked Robin to help with the grooming of his horse and any others that were there. Well, it was more ordered than asked, but he managed to phrase it nicely. When the horses were in sight, they heard the unmistakable cries of fighting.

"That sounds like Cherche," Robin commented.

"Indeed. I had best investigate and make sure she is unharmed. We wouldn't want our only Wyvern rider harmed."

"Uh-huh." Robin grinned slyly at Frederick, who kept his stoic expression, darting his eyes between where her battle cries could be heard and the man making a stupidly big grin at him.

"I assure you, it is nothing of _that_ nature, Robin."

"Sure. Don't worry, Freddy, I'll take care of the horses while you go ogle Cherche. I'm sure she wouldn't mind the company." Robin's grin turned to a smile as Frederick began to walk away, and Robin could swear he saw a spring in the knight's step. Robin walked over to the horses, feeling a spring in his own. When he reached Frederick's horse, he noticed something strange. The animal barely seemed to notice him. Its ears were standing on end, it was as close to one end of the fence as it was willing to get and its head was pointed towards the forest. "What's up, boy? You hear something?" Just then, Robin thought he heard it too. He stopped talking, and listened intently. From out of the woods, he could hear some sort of music. Curious, Robin began to walk towards the sound. When he reached its source, he was surprised at what he found. He saw Link sitting on a log by the nearby river, holding a horseshoe-shaped necklace in front of him. The sound seemed to be emanating from the necklace, though Robin was unsure how an instrument of that design could possibly work. Not wanting to interrupt, he turned around to leave, but stepped on a branch. The music instantly stopped, and Robin knew he was found.

He turned to see Link looking over at him, his entire face completely downcast. The joy Robin just had evaporated, turning into sadness. Link's eyes gleamed of longing, and his face had become weathered.

"Mind if I join you?" Link turned away, but patted the space on the log next to him. Robin cautiously sat down next to the boy, knowing that this was a delicate situation. An awkward silence reigned for what seemed like ages, then Robin remembered that Link was mute. "That's an interesting instrument you have there." Link turned to face him. "Did you make it yourself?" Link shook his head. "May I see it?" Link slowly handed over the horseshoe necklace, and Robin examined it. It was definitely hand-made, even if Link wasn't the one that made it. He found a carving on the back of it, which seemed to be a name: 'Ilia'. "Who's Ilia?" Link's head shot up at the mention of the name. "A relative?" Link shook his head. "A friend?" He then did a funny motion that was somewhere between a nod and a shake of his head. "Ah, it's a person you have feelings for." He gave a single nod. "You must have been loathe to leave her behind. I know I would be if I had to leave Lissa behind. Don't worry, though, you'll see her again. If it was meant to be, then a way will be found. I guarantee it." Link smiled weakly. "Enough of this depressing stuff. I would really like to take a look at that sword of yours." Robin said as he handed back the necklace. Link's face brightened considerably, and he drew his blade. "Left-handed. You really are something special, kid." Link rolled his eyes. He laid the blade out before him, displaying it in all its glory. Robin moved to pick it up, but Link's hand shot out and stopped Robin. "Ah, it's one of _those_ blades. Only one bloodline is allowed to touch it, right? Just like Falchion." Robin drew his hand away, and Link relaxed. Robin looked over the sword, and saw something that immediately caught his attention. "It's that symbol again!" Link looked at him curiously. "The three triangles! It seems to be everywhere around you. It must be important if even your sword has it." Realization dawned on the boy's face, and he began to take off his glove. On the back of his left hand was the same three triangles, embedded into his skin. Robin's feeling of dread came back to the forefront of his mind, and he instantly understood that this symbol was of the _highest_ importance back where Link came from. A question popped into his mind, and before he even knew what it was, it came out of his lips. "Why are you really here?" Link's face turned grave, and Robin's heart sank. Fear welled up in the pit of Robin's stomach. He now knew that Link had not come here by accident. He was here to stop something. He was here to warn the world of dangers to come. He was here to save them all. Then, they both heard the call for dinner.

 **A/N: This one was tough. It's hard writing in exposition when the character you need to have explain everything is mute. I hope I did alright, and that you enjoyed. If you have any criticisms, questions or concerns, please don't be afraid to PM or review. Thank you for your time!**


	3. Chapter 3

Robin barely noticed when they arrived at the port. His mind was racing; he needed to figure out what to do. Should he tell Chrom about what he had discerned, making him worry about a war on two fronts, or should he let this weight fall on only his and Link's shoulders, leaving only them to deal with the threat Link came to stop? He was jolted out of his reverie by the sounds of nearby battle. He would have to think about a second threat later; right now, he had a strategy to devise.

"Scouts report that the Valmese have entered the harbour already," Chrom said as he walked up to Robin. "We'll need to act fast in order to save any nearby villagers. Work your tactical brilliance, Robin." Chrom laid a map out in front of them, red spots labelling where the enemy was placed in the harbour. He then pointed to one of them. "This is where the commander seems to be."

Robin studied the map, and everyone nearby could practically see the gears whirring in his head. After a minute of silence, he spoke. "Chrom; you, Sumia, Kellam, Miriel, and Lon'qu take the north side of the port. Frederick, Cherche, Stahl, Sully and Panne take the south. Lissa, Link and I will follow in your wake, moving in when an opening presents itself. Be wary of archers and armoured units. Hopefully, we can get to the commander and stop him before they completely overtake the harbour. Everyone clear?" He looked around at the assembled Shepherds, and saw the simultaneous nod. "Good. Then let's go." He turned and ran towards the harbour, the Shepherds at his back.

They stood side-by-side, staring angrily at the smirking figure atop the ship, the lifeless body of the villager that had tried to stand up to the invading force falling off the side of the vessel. The harsh laughter of the commander rang out as he retreated back behind his soldiers.

"Let's put your plan into action." Chrom climbed on the back of Sumia's pegasus, and the assigned Shepherds followed it into the fray. Frederick and his squad followed Cherche across to the enemy, as Robin, Lissa and… wait, where was Link? He was stood stock still, shield in hand, but sword still on his back.

"Link, come on!" Robin attempted to pull Link along with him, but he refused to move. Robin saw something in Link's eyes that he had not seen until now; fear. But it was a strange kind of fear. It wasn't the fear of an insurmountable odd in front of him, it wasn't the fear of losing someone close to him, it wasn't the fear of battle; it was the fear of harming somebody. Link took a step back and shook his head. "You don't… hurt people, do you?" Link nodded.

"ROBIN! We have to GO!" Lissa practically screeched at him. She began tugging on his cloak as Robin released Link's arm.

"Alright, I'm coming. But it looks like he's not." Link's face turned to one of both relief and worry. "Unless he thinks he can defend us from behind. That shield will come in handy." Link smiled, and followed in their wake.

The ensuing battle was tough. Robin and Lissa would barely have made it if not for the reflexes and shield of the green warrior. They followed Frederick and Cherche past the enemies, dispatching the ones they missed. When an opening was made by the Knight and Wyvern, the trio burst their way onto the ship. They were met with a fierce opposition; Generals guarding many routes, Mages trying their best to stop the oncoming storm, horse riders that somehow fought while on the ship and extremely skilled swordsmen. They made their way towards the commander of the battalion, a man who obviously cared little for the lives of others; even his own men. Robin knew that diplomacy with the man was out of the question, and a fight was the only way to end this. A flash of lightning followed by a torrent of fire ended the commander's life. Robin walked over and took the weapon from his lifeless hands. He then walked to the edge of the boat and held the lance up high, signifying that they had won.

Now that it was over, Robin had nothing to stop his mind from wandering towards the oncoming danger that Link was seemingly here to stop. He was so enamoured in his thoughts, he almost missed Lissa looking at him with concern.

"Robin? What's wrong?" She walked over and grasped his hand. With a start, he turned and gave a weak smile.

"Nothing. Just… gotta figure out what to do with Link now." It wasn't a total lie.

"Yeah… it's a bit of a problem, isn't it? He can't kill people, and we're on the brink of war! At least he's fun to be around and he can fight those monsters. He's amazing against them!"

"You'd better not be getting a crush on him. At least one person would be very upset." He gained a real smile as he said this. Lissa always managed to do that. She reached up and gave him a peck on the cheek.

"I only have eyes for one person. Plus he's, like, seventeen! So there!" This last line was followed by the ever-so-princess-like sticking out of her tongue. Just then, a familiar figure walked up to them.

"Robin; Chrom, Basilio and Flavia require you in the strategy tent," Frederick gave an unamused look at Lissa. "It seems there has been a severe oversight."

Robin sighed. "Okay; tell them I'll be there in a minute." Frederick gave a nod and walked off with purpose, but got slightly sidetracked by a certain Wyvern rider. Robin gave a chuckle, and looked back at Lissa. Her jaw was practically on the floor.

"Them?!" Her eyes were still fixed on the retreating figures.

"Apparently so." He gave her a quick kiss. "Right, I've got to go. An oversight is something we can't afford."

On the way to the strategy tent, his mind drifted back to the dilemma. Should he tell Chrom, should he let this stay in its secretive state, or… what? As he reached the flap of the tent, he came to an abrupt decision. For now, Chrom didn't need to know. He could speak with Link about it later. Hopefully, later would be able to come.

 **A/N: This isn't one of my best, but it's necessary. It establishes that Link will NOT be killing people. Why? He was saving them in Twilight Princess, so evil or not, it would be completely against his instincts. Don't worry, he'll still be able to fight enemies. And for those of you worried about the children and wolf form, I have a plan for everything. It's not the most straightforward plan, but it does make sense. Patience is key. So, if you have any questions, concerns or suggestions, please PM or review. Help is always appreciated.**


	4. Chapter 4

The day that had started with so much promise turned into one of Robin's worst nightmares. Earlier that day, they had reached Plegia in order to ask for their assistance. They were shocked to learn that the man in charge of the entire country was none other than Validar, the man who had attempted to assassinate Emmeryn a very long time ago. They were even more shocked, however, by the man's willingness to cooperate. He immediately gave them two out of three things they asked for, being ships and gold, with no explanation or wanting of it back. That's where it all went wrong. He introduced them to their hierophant, who looked and sounded exactly like Robin, right down to his name. Validar didn't let them get to questioning this duplicate, expelling them from the castle as fast as he could. Then, after they had set up camp a little farther down the road from the capital, Validar reappeared. He managed to somehow get into Robin's mind, and revealed that he was Robin's father. When Chrom came and consoled him, the alarm was raised.

And this is now where we are. The Shepherds are stuck at the bottom of a valley surrounded by Risen, a Plegian dark mage is shouting something about crows at them, Robin can't think of a strategy, and their best warrior is nowhere to be seen.

"Has anyone seen Link?" Robin called out to the assembled fighters.

"He was last at my tent," the echoing voice of Panne's giant rabbit form replied. "I was telling the man-spawn about taugel culture. I have not seen him since."

"Great." What were they going to do without him? Robin's mind raced to figure out a winning strategy. The best plan would be to get fliers, such as Sumia or Cherche, up to the tops of the cliffs, but those same cliffs were covered in archers. He couldn't risk sending them up.

It was in this silent moment, the Risen waiting for them to make a move, Robin thinking as hard as he could, and the light of the full moon shining down on them, that they heard it. A lone howl echoed across the small valley. Robin would usually pay no heed to the voice of a single wolf in a time like this, but there was something about the noise that caught his attention. There was a primal tone to it; a sinister backing to the howl that made Robin's, and every other Shepherd's, hair stand on end. Even the Risen seemed to be affected by the sound as they all looked in the direction of the fierce sound.

"What in Naga's name is that?" Chrom voiced the question every Shepherd had on their mind. The Risen turned their attention back to the blue-haired leader, called back by the sound of his voice.

 _No time to be concerned about that,_ Robin thought, _I have a strategy to devise. But how? They have us outmaneuvered, out-manned and-_ he caught something out of the corner of his eye. Far up on the cliff, one of the Risen archers had fallen. Robin saw a dark shadow dart away from the cloud of decaying Risen, straight into the one on its right. He stared in awe and terror as the dark shape practically flew from archer to archer, disintegrating each one that it ran into. In a matter of seconds, one of the clifftops was clear of Risen. The shape then moved to the edge, and jumped. Robin thought that it would land amongst the Shepherds, possibly dead. But, to his surprise; and the surprise of all his comrades, the shadow lept across the canyon. Robin caught a glimpse of it as it sailed across them and was silhouetted by the moonlight. All he could make out was the shape; some kind of wolf. Once again, it became shadow, and slew all the Risen on the opposite cliff. Robin's mind snapped back to attention.

"Cherche, Sumia!" The riders slowly turned their heads to face him. "Get up on those cliffs! Each of you take one side! We'll all meet with you up there as soon as we can!"

They nodded, and began to take off. Chrom jumped on the back of Sumia's pegasus just before its hooves left the ground, and Frederick did much the same with Minerva, Cherche's wyvern. Robin sighed. They were down two fighters. Though, it may have saved the lives of both Cherche and Sumia, so Robin couldn't complain too much. If the ground units still wanted to succeed, they would have to act fast.

"Everyone else, back up the trail. I saw a way up onto both cliffs back there. When we get to the entrances, split up! Half the party on one side, half on the other. The commander should be in the very back of the valley. Clear?" He looked around and saw the remaining force already on the move. "Good."

The band of Shepherds tore through the Risen in their attempt to escape the ambush. Blasts of fire and lightning radiated out from the group of mismatched soldiers, along with various javelins and axes, moonlight glinting off of the weapons. Purple smoke filled the air as they reached the rear of the small valley. Robin and Lissa took one half while Panne and Miriel took the other. Spears and swords stabbed at the tactician's group as they raced towards their awaiting rider and company. As they moved, Robin saw quick flashes of something darting between the trees, taking down any Risen that was out of the group's reach. They reached a clearing and saw Chrom and Sumia battling a horde of the vile creatures. Robin was about to charge at the undead soldiers, but stopped when they all began to fall. The shadow once again moved across the Risen at a breakneck speed, reducing their numbers so severely that Sumia, with her limited amount of training, managed to fend off the remaining few. Robin ran over to them, and saw a deep gash in Chrom's leg. He obviously saw Robin's eyes dart to the injury, and gave a weak smile.

"Don't worry, Robin. I'm fine, thanks to your strategy. We wouldn't have been as fine if you didn't manage to dispatch those Risen."

"Chrom," Robin looked dumbfounded, "we didn't stop them. Something else got to them before we could."

"I see." Chrom looked around warily. "Right then. Let's continue with your- ahhh!" Chrom had attempted to take a step forward, but his leg gave way.

"No, you're staying here." Sumia jumped off the pegasus and knelt next to Chrom. "I'll heal you back into working order. Do you think you can stop them without us?" This was directed at Robin. He nodded.

"I know we can."

The next few minutes were a blur. Robin knew that he was casting spells alongside Lissa and gaining ground on their deceased foes, but his mind was occupied with that shadow. Where did it come from? Why was it here? And whose side was it really on? These thoughts were soon cut out by the loud sounds of some kind of commander. Robin shook his head to clear it and focus on the battle ahead.

"Okay, Lissa, let's go!"

"Right behind you!"

The commander was an imposing figure. The light of the moon showed him in all his ferocity. He was laden with muscle, towering above both Robin and Lissa. His sword glinted in the light as it pointed this way and that, being used as a signal for his undead army. When they got close, his head swiveled to face them, the disturbing mask that all Risen wore only making him more threatening. The glowing red eyes of the commander stared at them for a brief moment before he launched himself at the pair, grunting and growling wildly. Robin and Lissa moved to opposite sides just as his sword broke the ground between them. He flailed his weapon at the duo as they weaved and dodged this way and that. The spellcasters could barely get a hit on the giant he was moving so fast. Eventually, Robin found an opening, and shot a single bolt of lightning between the creature's ribs. It let out a deafening howl as it flew back, straight into a tree, snapping it in half. Robin turned to look at his fellow Shepherds, who had just run up behind the two, with a proud grin on his face as it vanished into the night air.

"We did it! It's over. Um… guys?" They were all staring at something behind him. A low growl reverberated around him, and he slowly turned around. There, in the shadows and amongst the trees, two points of blue light stared at him. Robin stepped back as they began to move forwards, the pinpoints of light revealing what they were attached to. The moonlight shone off of the fur of something resembling a large wolf. Its black and white colouration had a pattern to it, as if someone had painted angular shapes into the creature. Around one of its front legs was the remnants of a chain, and, most curious of all, it had an earring. Robin took another step back and heard the ring of steel behind him as the Shepherds drew their weapons. He reached for the hilt of his own sword, when something began to happen. The beast began to turn to shadow once more, but this time it was standing directly in the light. When it had become fully black, rectangles of the same shade began to float off of it. It stood up on its back legs, and began to take on a different shape. Its front paws began to splay apart, the elbows moved down and thickened, the ears shrank somewhat, and what Robin presumed to be its fur began to become the shape of clothes. As the black on it began to recede and the black rectangles lessened, the gathered party gave out a simultaneous gasp. Before them was now a very familiar green swordsman, holding a black object in his right hand.

"Link?" Lissa whispered incredulously. The boy gave a small smile, and looked down at the thing in his hand. It appeared to be a Beaststone, but all black. In fact, it seemed to absorb light as opposed to radiate it as the stones normally did; this one was radiating darkness.

"You." Panne's voice called out, snapping the others out of their trance. She, unlike them, seemed unfazed by the boy's transformation. "That is one of my stones." She walked towards Link. "Give it back." Link held out the stone obediently, and Panne reached for it. "Why did you-" She froze. Her hand was hovering just above the darkened stone, completely tensed with her veins almost breaking her skin. She reeled back from the object, fear doing a quick dance across her face. "How did you do this? My stone has been corrupted with dark energy!" Link shrugged. "Then why did you do it?" Link withdrew the stone, and moved his left hand over to it. As it got closer, a faint glow could be seen coming from underneath his glove, getting brighter and brighter as it neared the stone. He took his hand back.

"That could come in handy." Robin mused, breaking out into a smile. Link followed suit. "Right. I should go back and see how Chrom is doing. Lissa, do you mind taking care of injuries while Link and I go and check up on him?"

"I do mind!" She put on a fake pouting face. "But, I SUPPOSE I can do that. Just bring big brother back alive."

"Can do. Come on, Link. I want to learn more about this beast form of yours." With that, the two set off in search of the Exalt.

They approached Chrom and Sumia. Chrom saw the two coming, and gave Sumia a look. With that, she took to her pegasus and flew across to the other Shepherds.

"So, did you discover anything about that shadow?" Chrom walked over to them, his leg injury now nothing more than a scar.

"Actually," Robin glanced over at Link, "it was him. Turns out, Link is some kind of taugel as well, but he takes on the form of a wolf."

"Wow. That would explain the ears."

"Yes, I suppose it would." He could feel the confused glare of Link on him. "Anyway, we managed to take down the chief."

"Good. That's the last of them." He looked out across the clifftop. "Gods, I thought they might nev-"

Something caught Robin's eye, and it was moving towards Chrom. "Chrom, look out!" He wasn't fast enough. The figure of an assassin practically appeared next to Chrom.

"Huh?! Ah!" He turned, but too late. Falchion was in its sheath, and the sword of the assailant was already moving towards him.

"Father, no!" A female voice called from nowhere. Then, Marth, a woman they had once met disguised as a man, leaped out of the bushes and stopped the oncoming blow. The assassin then vanished as quickly as it had appeared, the only thing telling of its arrival was the swish of its robes in the bushes.

Marth turned around, beaming at Chrom. "Thank the gods you're safe!"

Chrom stood in stunned silence before replying. "...You called me 'Father'."

Marth's smile disappeared. "Did I? I… ...Perhaps we might speak privately?" She glanced over at Robin.

"Perhaps we should, yes." Chrom and Marth walked off, leaving a stunned Robin and slightly hidden Link standing by themselves.

"Maybe we should go get Sumia." Robin looked over at Link. He nodded, and the two rushed off to find the wife of the Exalt.

After only saying a few words to Sumia, she ran off in the direction that Chrom and Marth had gone. Robin hadn't even had time to tell her the whole story. When Link and Robin reached where the two, followed unknowingly by a third, were, Robin could see tears streaming down Marth's face. He thought it best to interrupt before things went too far.

"I'm sorry- Chrom?" He stepped into the clearing.

Chrom looked up at the tactician. "Hmm? Oh, Robin. What is it?"

Robin shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot. "It's just that… You two are out here alone and Marth is… crying. This is how ill rumours are born."

They heard the light sound of a nearby voice. "He loves me… He loves me not…" They looked around and saw the distraught figure of Sumia, practically tearing the petals off of some flowers.

Chrom spoke up. "Er, Sumia? Why in the gods' names are you shredding those poor flowers?" Sumia turned to face him, now on the brink of tears.

"I'm not spying on you! You can't prove that I am! Oh, gods! You brought… HER!" The built up tears began to fall.

"Can we tell her, Lucina?"

"Of course," Marth replied. Or…

"Lucina?" Sumia looked up from her flower. "But wait, that's…"

"Sumia, this is going to be something of a shock, but… I'll just say it: This is our daughter, Lucina." The silence that followed was deafening.

"...What?" Sumia eventually replied."

"It's true, Sumia." The young girl piped up, "I'm your daughter. Look closely and see for yourself." She then walked toward Sumia, and pointed to her eye. After a second of squinting, Sumia gasped.

"Y-your eye! It has the Brand!"

Chrom stepped in. "The same Brand carried by all House Ylisse's bloodline."

"This… This is…" Sumia looked like she might faint.

"Do you see now?"

"No, Chrom, I do NOT see! This doesn't make any sense! ...Wait. Is my Lucina all right? What did you do to her?!" She almost lunged at the girl.

"Peace, Sumia." Chrom held her back.

"Your baby is right where you left her, and perfectly safe." The girl was unflinching. "I am from another time. From a time that is yet to be."

"You mean… the future?" Sumia almost fainted again.

"Yes, more than 10 years hence. After history takes a dark and most destructive turn..." The assembled party gave a small gasp, even the one Lucina had not noticed. She turned to face the one hanging back, who was staring off into space, eyes filled with terror. "Who is this?" Her hand went to her blade.

"This is Link. If not for him, we wouldn't have made it out of that last battle alive." Robin moved between the two. Lucina peered around the man in order to get a good look at the green-clad warrior. "What happens in the future?" He tried to change the subject. It worked.

"The fell dragon, Grima, is resurrected. His roar is a death knell for man, a scream that silences all hope… Death everywhere…" Her expression went sour as she trailed off.

"Chrom? ...Our whole company? All of us? Dead?!" Robin stood back. He knew that Link came here to stop something. Maybe this was it. He looked back and saw both relief and confusion on the boy's face. This wasn't it. It looked like he didn't even know what the fell dragon was, much less how to stop it. _If Lucina is here to stop Grima,_ Robin connected the gruesome dots, _Then Link is here to stop something else. Something more than the end of humanity. Something just as bad; or worse…_

 **A/N: This was a long one! This chapter in the game and this story is so important that I couldn't cut it up into sections. Instead, you get a longer chapter. Oh, and for this one, special thanks to Mew29240 for the Beaststone idea. It was genius, so I went with it. I hope you guys enjoyed this one! Any questions, comments, concerns, ideas or qualms, please review or PM. Every little bit helps!**


	5. Chapter 5

It was still so confusing. Chrom's time-travelling daughter was amongst the Shepherds now, apparently here to stop a deadly evil from resurfacing, Henry; the Plegian dark mage they had met previously, and Tharja hadn't managed to figure out Link's strange Beaststone at all, and Robin was still sure that Link wasn't here to stop the same evil that Lucina was. His head was swimming with all of this new information; so intensely, in fact, that it nearly made him faint when he thought about it. He tried not to let Lissa see them, but this one was unavoidable. They were marching next to each other, when all these thoughts hit him from out of the blue.

"Robin?!" Lissa yelled at him as he faltered in his step; unnoticable by all except his wife. "Are you okay?! What's going on?!" It didn't help that her spastic shouting attracted the attention of any nearby Shepherds.

"I'm fine." It was hard to hide the exhausted tone in his voice.

"No, you're not! You need rest!"

"Really, Lissa, I'm okay!" He said with a slight chuckle. It was a horrible attempt at fooling Lissa.

"Robin!"

"Is there something wrong?" Chrom walked over to the two. Unfortunately, he was one of the nearby Shepherds.

"No, everything's fi-"

"Robin needs rest! We need to stop moving!"

"Lissa, even if he is my brother-in-law, I can't stop a march just for him."

"You won't be! You'll be stopping it for your brother-in-law, your chief tactician and me." Lissa promptly sat on the ground. Chrom knew he wouldn't win this one.

"Okay, okay. Shepherds! We're taking a break here!" He walked off, and Robin warily sat down.

"I guess I could do with a rest."

"Yes, you could. I'm always right, you know." She gave a smile to the tactician.

"That's not what I've heard." The princess stuck her tongue out at him. He chuckled and put his arm around her shoulder. The light- yet kind-hearted woman always managed to make him feel better.

The small respite had cleared his head, and the ensuing march was much more agreeable; well, as agreeable as a long, boring trek across the country can get. He was walking hand-in-hand with Lissa, who was almost skipping along beside him, when a familiar figure came running up.

"Hello, Link. Enjoying the day?" As the boy got closer, Robin noticed his concerned expression. "What's wrong?" From the distance, he could hear the roar of a small Risen battalion. Link turned in the direction of the sound. "Right." The group moved off into the woods, the sounds of battle leading their way.

They ran through the woods, and eventually found themselves looking upon a ruined temple. They briefly stared in awe at the massive structure. Its blue-tinted bricks practically touched the clouds. Pillars jutted up out of the ground; some only chipped, the others almost destroyed. From within, they could hear the unmistakable sounds of a Risen horde and the faint sound of a female voice.

"The Ruins of Time…" Chrom breathed just above a whisper. "It was only a myth…" Robin's eyes swiveled from the mystified Exalt to the ancient stone structure, and finally landed on the green-tunic-ed boy. He was charging towards the entrance, sword drawn. He had the right idea.

"Let's go!" Robin motioned to the temple, and the Shepherds snapped out of their reverie. The party charged through the opening, and right into a pack of Risen. Fortunately for them, they were occupied with attacking a not-so-fortunate girl. A barely intelligible roar came from what Robin presumed was the commander.

"Kill… Future… Ch-" It was cut off by the hollow sounds of the other Risen, who had finally noticed the band of fighters. Now they were in trouble.

"Sumia!" The queen flew over to the tactician. "You and Lissa go help that girl. Protect each other and that girl. Go!" Lissa jumped on the back of the pegasus, and the two took off. Thank Naga the ceiling was high enough that Sumia's mount had enough room to fly. "Lucina, Link! You two will follow me. We're going after that commander. Everyone else, follow after us and stick together. Take down any stragglers, and we should be fine." The unsheathing of weapons followed his command, and the trio set off through the throng of Risen.

They moved well, despite the gaping holes in the ground. Lucina's Falchion proved to be just as deadly as her father's, and Link's sword practically sliced Risen in half; actually, it did do that once or twice. But their assault could only work for so long. Robin's sword shattered when it collided with the helmet of one of the Risen; who still fell away into mist, and Lucina became visibly tired. Instead of focussing on what she was doing, she watched the fearsome green warrior in awe. His endurance was astounding: he took hundreds of hits to his shield, his sword arm never faltered, and his gaze never fell away from the enemy. Lucina's temporary lack of focus resulted in her getting disarmed, Falchion flying just outside of the encircling Risen. Robin dodged a particularly vicious blow, and looked to Link. The boy had obviously seen the look, because he sheathed his sword and reached into his pouch. A small gasp came from Lucina as he began the darkened transformation. Even the Risen stood back from the shadowy form as it morphed into the wolf that Robin now saw as a final resort.

The beast stood still for a mere second before charging into the Risen. The two that remained could hear the deafening roars of the undead soldiers as a path was cut directly to the sword with its tip embedded between the tiles of the decrepit floor.

"Did he…" Lucina was dumbstruck as she retrieved Falchion.

"Yes. Now, let's get to that commander." Robin pulled a spare tome out of his robes; only a weak wind one, but it would have to do.

They found the leader riding atop a fearsome griffin, throwing a barrage of axes at anything it could. The wind tome that Robin had, despite being extremely useful against flying creatures, was still very weak. Even with the added help of his grown niece and her legendary blade, they hardly made a dent in the chief's armour. That's why, when they were on their last wind (literally for Robin), the assistance of a certain animal was very welcome. A wolf leaped onto the griffin from behind, sinking its jaws into the rider. It let out a bone-chilling scream as teeth and claws tore into the undead commander. Link jumped off the mount as it plummeted to the earth below, the mental connection to its rider lost.

Robin surveyed the ruins around them. The remaining Risen seemed to be falling back, and the Shepherds were celebrating loud enough that Robin could hear them from across the enormous room. His eyes fell on a black shape that was sauntering over to the pair. When the rectangles and dark finally settled, the familiar form of Link stood before them, smiling.

"Well done, kid." Robin patted him on the shoulder.

"That…" Robin turned to see Lucina's stunned face. "That was incredible… How did you do that?!" Link simply shrugged. "No, really! I want to know!"

"Lucina, Link's mute, remember?"

"Oh. Right. I had forgotten." She looked incredibly downcast. "I suppose I'll have to find out on my own."

"That's what we've all been trying to do."

"INCOMING!" Lissa's energetic yell called to the three. She was still on the back of the pegasus, but she did have something different: there was a cloak sitting behind her. Actually, that cloak looked very familiar…

"So, how is she?" Robin asked as the flying horse landed on the ruined slabs before him.

"Just fine! You know, she's a really good fighter! She was absolutely incredible!" Lissa jumped off the back of the animal and pointed towards the girl that was sitting behind her. The girl was blonde; she couldn't have been much older than Link, she was clutching a tome tightly to her chest, and, once again, she was wearing a very familiar cloak. When her blue eyes landed on the tactician, they instantly brightened.

"Father!" She practically flew off the back of the mount and charged at him. With barely any time to react, she slammed into Robin, enveloping him in one of the tightest hugs he had ever been caught in. "Father, I missed you so much!"

"Father…?" Great. One more thing to add to his headaches.

"Did… did she just call you Father?! This is our daughter?!" Actually, make that two more things.

 **A/N: I know, I know, the beginning isn't all that great. I really wanted to introduce Morgan, and I had the ending all planned out, but the beginning was a difficult task. I bet you'll have noticed that this came out sooner than most of the other chapters. That is simply because I have a few ideas that I really want to get to, so expect at least one more chapter to come out in… probably a few days. So, be sure to review or PM me with anything you want to say about the story. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**


	6. Chapter 6

**This chapter is more sitcom than it is story. It was an idea I had that I wanted to do. So, if you're only interested in the actual narrative, this chapter is skippable. Also, innuendo warning! If you want a bit of humour, read on!**

The salty air was fantastic. They had only been at sea for a few days, but the feeling of an ocean breeze had completely rejuvenated Robin. His headaches had subsided, and he actually managed to wrap his head around having a daughter that was almost as old as him. However, Morgan was also an amnesiac, and couldn't remember anything other than him. Lissa was constantly trying to get Morgan to remember her, but things hadn't gone too well so far. These sessions did, however, allow Robin to rest from his bubbly daughter. He walked out onto the deck, breathing in the fresh morning air. At the prow of the ship, he saw Link leaning out over the front, holding onto a rope for balance.

"Hoy there!" The boy turned and smiled as Robin walked over. "Enjoying the day?" Link nodded and turned his head back to the open sea. "You seem quite at home out here. Have you ever been on a boat before?" Link shook his head. "Guess you've been a sailor in a previous life, then!" Robin laughed. The boy turned and smiled sheepishly, tilting his hand back and forth. Robin could only stare. "I was only joking…"

"Milord!" Thankfully, the strange moment was interrupted by the booming footsteps of Frederick, Cherche beside him and Minerva right behind.

"Frederick!" Relief swept over the tactician. "I may be married to the princess, but I told you you don't have to call me that."

"Sorry, sir. Force of habit."

"So, how are you two doing?"

Cherche gave out a small giggle. "Poor Freddy still hasn't gotten his sea legs."

"I asked you to keep that quiet."

"I know, Frederick." She sighed. At times, the knight could be so serious. Robin could practically see the disappointment on her face. "Anyway, we should be going. It's time for Minerva's lunch!" She patted the snout of the wyvern, who gave out a soft roar. As the two walked past, Frederick leaned close to Robin's ear.

"My cabin. One hour. Bring Lissa." Robin nodded as they walked off.

"What could he need Lissa for?" The only answer Robin got was a shrug from the mysterious kid leaning from the prow.

After Robin managed to both stop Morgan from bashing her head in and Lissa from being so energetic as to ask Frederick to 'TELL HER EVERYTHING!', he found himself standing just outside Frederick's door. He took a deep breath and opened it.

"Robin, Lissa. Please come in." Frederick was sat behind a desk, studiously polishing something; presumably one of Chrom's possessions. "Please, sit." He indicated to two chairs placed close to the door. The couple looked at each other, then sat down.

"What's up, Freddy?" Lissa was the first one to pipe up.

"I am having lady troubles." Both Lissa and Robin broke out in enormous grins. "I need advice."

"We'll do what we can." Robin leaned in closer. "So, what did you want to know?"

"How do I put this? I want to know how to… make with the love." Their jaws dropped to the floor. _Does he mean…_ Robin and Lissa turned to face each other. Their cheeks reddened, and they quickly turned away from each other. They turned back to Frederick, small smiles on their faces, and moved closer together. They didn't make eye contact with the knight, however.

"Well…" Robin began.

"Start with a drink!" Lissa burst. "Try to have it by candlelight. That always works."

"And if it doesn't, try flowers. Flowers are guaranteed romance." Frederick's face began to contort to one of confusion.

"Then, preferably, find somewhere comfortable. It doesn't always matter, but it does help."

"I found that out the hard way." Lissa's cheeks grew even redder at Robin's comment. Frederick's slowly began to turn to one of understanding, but not before Robin said one final sentence: "That's when you begin."

"Gods, stop!" Frederick practically jumped out of his chair. "That is not what I meant!"

"It's not?"

"No, milady! I wanted to know how you two managed to be so comfortable around each other. I am still new at this 'couple' thing, and I wanted to have relationship advice from veterans." He cleared his throat and stood up. "So, can you help me with this?" Relief flooded across the faces of the couple.

"Yes, I think we can." Robin looked to Lissa.

"You need to just be yourself around her."

"That's really all there is to it."

"If it was meant to be…"

"Then there won't be any real problems."

"You may fight at times…"

"But if the love is true…"

"Then everything should just come…"

"Naturally." They both said the last word. Frederick's stoic face only stared at them. Robin could see a hint of admiration behind the loyal knight's eyes.

"Intriguing. Now, I do have some more questions." He turned back to his desk and began rummaging through the drawers.

Robin leaned in and whispered to Lissa, "Lissa?"

"Yeah?"

"That was the only thing we practiced."

"Well, we're stuck now."

"Found it!" Frederick turned back around, holding a long scroll in his hand. Robin and Lissa gulped. This was going to be a long trip.

 **A/N: I hope I did okay making this situation. I don't actually know how these things work because no GF :( . Be sure to review or PM to tell me how I did. Any criticism is good criticism!**


	7. Chapter 7

Robin stepped out on deck, a small glass of water in hand. It had been about two weeks since they had set sail from Ylisse. The ships Plegia had provided, while great for long voyages, weren't all that comfortable. Because of this, Robin often found himself on the deck, meandering about and trying to avoid Frederick. His questions seemingly had no end. It also didn't help when Lissa finally burst out with her 'TELL ME EVERYTHING!', enticing the knight to continue with their sessions. He also found respite sitting with the mute oddity, who was always out on deck. In fact, Robin was searching for the boy at this very moment. He found him practicing swordplay up near the prow. Link sheathed his weapon as Robin sauntered over.

"Good day, Link! How are you doing?" Link smiled. "Excellent. You need some help with practice?" Link nodded. "Alright then!" They took up their positions. Robin drew his sword, but Link did not. Instead, he began to reach into a pouch. _What is he doing?_ However, he stopped. His eyes darted to the sky as a shadow flew across the ship. Link ran to the prow, and Robin followed. As they darted towards the front, Robin glanced up. Far above them, silhouetted by the intense sunlight, was a figure. It was flying at incredible speeds; faster than Nowi in dragon form on a sugar high. Robin noticed a cape flapping in the wind, and a small speck of orange at the front. Even though it was only a shadow, it sent fear shooting down his spine. And brief though it was, the cold of the shadow chilled him to the bone. Robin noted the fear in Link's eyes as he followed the speeding figure. He also noticed another shape on the horizon. It was a battalion of ships, all headed their way. "Damn it." Robin ran off to Chrom's cabin.

 _Gods, I hope this works._ This thought ran through Robin's mind over and over again as they approached the lead ship. The second ship pulling up alongside did nothing to quell it. Their raiding party consisted of him, Morgan, Chrom, Lucina, Link, Frederick, Cherche, Panne, Henry, Stahl and Sully. Robin knew that the small band was entirely up to the challenge, but it would still be an uphill battle.

"Don't worry. We can win." Chrom placed a hand on Robin's shoulder.

"I know. But 'can' and 'will' are two very different things."

Already, they were in trouble. The commander's ship was more heavily guarded than previously anticipated, and pegasus soldiers were moving towards them. The group was split in half; Chrom, Lucina, Panne, Henry, Sully and Stahl were taking on one ship while Robin, Morgan, Link, Frederick and Cherche were taking on the commander's. This team was taking quite a beating because of one crucial factor that Robin had overlooked in the heat of the moment: Link's inability to kill humans. He did provide good defense and was still able to knock some of the Valmese soldiers senseless, but he was much less of a fighting force than was required. Due to this, they couldn't even get close to the commander.

"Link, is there really NOTHING you can do?!" Robin was in hysterics. This couldn't go on for much longer. Then, he got a glimmer of hope. He saw an idea form in Link's mind, and he reached for his pouch. "No, don't!" Startled, Link's hand paused just above the clasp. "You can't turn into a wolf now! You're much more of an asset to us this way! Your defense is unparalleled!" Link simply smiled and continued to reach into the pocket. _Gods, he's gone mad!_ Robin prepared for the feel of a dark aura, but it never came. He glanced back over and saw Link… pulling a chain out of the pouch?! He could only, once again, stare at the strange warrior in awe as he pulled a massive chain out of the small pouch he had on his waist. After what seemed like a lifetime, the chain finally ended, and was followed by a massive metal ball. _Is that even possible?! Well, I'm seeing it, so I suppose it is._ About as large as Link's torso, the ball almost overshadowed him. Attacks from the Valmese soldiers continually bounced off the gigantic metal ball, and the chain tripped up as many of them as it could. Then Link did something unprecedented. Ball and chain in hand, Link began to swing it around his head. It kept the enemy at bay, not wanting to get a fast-moving metal ball to the face. Without warning, Link slammed the ball into the deck. It crashed through the wooden boat, sending splinters flying. From below, Robin could hear terrified screams as the ball shot down through the layers, followed by a large splash. Unbelievably, Link had managed to tear through to the ocean below.

"Dad, did he…" Morgan was staring at the gaping hole in the ship, a chain beginning to recede from it.

"I think he did…" Robin was at a loss for words. Though, not for long. He soon remembered the reason they were on the ship in the first place. "This is perfect! Quick, rush the commander while they're panicking!" And with that, the small party set off, a ball and chain impossibly returning to its original pocket.

Two hours later, they were back on their own ship, now more filled with people. Behind them, the burning wreckage of ships both friend and foe slowly sinking into the deep ocean.

"Our mysterious warrior is full of surprises." Robin had just told Chrom about the events that transpired on the ship, and the Exalt was now looking at Link, who was staring off into the distance. "I wonder what else he can bring to the table."

"Yes…" Robin noticed Lucina walking around on deck. An idea had just formed in his head, and he needed to find out if he was right. "Sorry, Chrom. I have something important to discuss with your daughter."

"Of course. It's still so strange, having a grown-up daughter."

"Tell me about it." He waved, and set off towards Lucina. "Hey, Lucina!"

"Oh, hello uncle Robin. Is something the matter?"

"In a way. I have a question I must ask you about the future."

"Of course; though I cannot guarantee an answer."

"Did you ever hear of Link before you came back?" Lucina thought for a minute before replying.

"No, I can't say I did. I'm fairly certain that I would remember hearing about a man who can turn into a wolf and carries yet another legendary blade."

"What about another evil threatening the world?"

"Only Grima prevailed. Why? Do you suspect something else is here?"

Robin sighed. "Yes. Just… please don't tell anyone else- especially Chrom. I'm sure you can ask Link about it, but you probably won't get an answer."

"I will keep it in mind." Lucina walked off, her face hidden from Robin's view.

"How is she so calm? I just told her that something else plans to destroy the world, and she barely batted an eye. At least it's not on just two shoulders anymore." He began to go back to his cabin, when a memory struck him. "And what was that caped figure? Why was it headed to Valm?" Just another question falling on air, with no answers deciding to show themselves. Another puzzle without a solution. Another problem he would have to deal with.

 **A/N: So, what did you think? Hopefully, some details were clarified for anyone confused about my interior ideas. At the moment, I have some serious writer's block regarding the next chapter, so don't expect updates to be as quick as they have been. I hope that the two chapters I wrote today are enough to satisfy for as long as need be. Be sure to review or PM any thoughts, concerns, questions or criticisms. It all helps!**


	8. Chapter 8

Robin saw one of two options. The first one was to send fliers over the wall to infiltrate the ranks. The second was to do exactly what Walhart's forces wanted. One was totally up to chance, where the other was only half up to chance. Predictably, he prefered the one where he had some amount of control. The heavy guard at the bottleneck still made him hesitate, but he knew that this was the best way.

"Chrom, I have a plan, but it's a bit crazy."

"I like it already."

A few minutes later, and Walhart's forces found themselves being charged at by seemingly insane Ylisseans. It had the intended effect. Robin saw the fierce Generals shaking in their metal boots at their display of intense savagery. It gave him the perfect opportunity to send a fierce bolt of lightning at one of them, and a Falchion struck down the other. As they crossed the threshold into the small fishing village, Robin felt a quip coming on. As he got close to the downed guards, he let it out.

"It's good to have fear; just don't let it consume you." That made him feel good, even if nobody else heard it. He caught back up with the invading force; and the good feeling was gone. The opposition was more massive than he had anticipated, and they had a girl hostage. Or was she? Every attempt that the enemy made to grab her, she dodged. Every stab missed, every slash parried. She couldn't do anything in return, even though she had two swords; the armour was just too heavy.

"Lucina, take Link and-"

"If it's all the same to you, Robin, I can do this by myself."

"No, you can't. You may have excellent sword skills, but you have nowhere near the defence needed to help that woman."

"Then may I take someone who can fight back?"

"Fine. Find Kellam and take him with you."

"Robin? I'm right here."

"GAH! Jeez, you scared the daylights out of me! Okay, you and Lucina go help that woman."

"Can do." With that, the heavily plated knight and skilled Lord set off across the battlefield, towards the direction that the woman being pursued ran. _Odd. Lucina recoiled when asked to fight alongside Link. I'll have to ask later._ With that thought, Robin charged into the fray.

To the absolute joy of the entirety of the Shepherds, they found out that the woman was named Say'ri, and she was the leader of the resistance. She was grateful to them for clearing the small village of Walhart's forces, and agreed to join their party. They were also invited to stay in the harbour for as need be, but the Shepherds decided to only stay one night. They would leave a small force behind to ensure that Walhart didn't come back, but they would move on the next day. That suited Robin just fine; he had a few things to take care of.

"Hi Dad!" First stop.

"Hi Morgan. How is this place suiting you?"

"Great! I managed to get a free room, I found an amazing book and my memory is starting to come back! …Maybe."

"We all got free rooms…" he muttered just under his breath.

"What?"

"Nothing! Nothing! Hey, if you're memories are returning, what can you remember?"

"Well… if I concentrate real hard, I can make out an image of you and… someone else. I'm not sure who it is, but they have Mother's hair colour. I'm also feeling a much bigger sense of attachment to Mother; more than I am with the other Shepherds!" She was beaming, as usual.

"That's fantastic, sweetie. Man, that's still weird to say."

"Good weird?"

"Good weird." He gave her a hug. "Okay, Morgan, gotta run. There are still a few things I need to do today. If I get them done fast enough, do you want some more tactical training tonight?" She nodded her head vigorously.

"Can we invite Mom?"

"You can try, but she finds that kind of thing very dull."

"Well then, I'm going to show her otherwise!" And with that, Morgan ran off towards the room Robin and Lissa were staying in.

"And there she goes again." He sighed. "Okay, next thing on the list."

He found Say'ri going over maps of Valm in the strategy tent with Flavia and Basilio. He was loathe to interrupt, but this was of utmost importance.

"Say'ri?" She turned to face him.

"Ah, the master tactician; Robin, correct?"

"Yes. I have something I need to discuss with you."

"Then share it. I do not have as much time as you may think."

"This must be discussed in private." He looked over at the two Khans.

"Well, she-witch, it seems as if the boy's asking us to leave."

"Nothing escapes you, does it oaf?" They left the tent, their banter echoing through the streets. Robin turned back to Say'ri.

"So, what is it you needed?"

"Have you seen anything… strange recently?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean something akin to an orange-haired man wearing cape? Possibly six feet tall in stature?" She pondered a minute before replying.

"Nay, I have not seen a man such as you describe. Though, I have seen some very strange plants in the forest. Why? What do you know of this?"

"I may know the cause, though I can't say for certain. For now, could you keep this between us?"

"Of course, tactician."

"Thank you, Say'ri. I'm very glad you decided to join us." Say'ri gave Robin a small bow as he left the tent. His head began to swell once more, but he had managed to quell the headaches by now. "Just one more thing to do. Then I can actually ENJOY my time here."

He found her practicing just beyond the town's borders. Curious, seeing as how she wanted to be a part of the army. She appeared to be in a bad mood, so Robin decided to approach cautiously; a wise decision.

"Lucina?"

"Huh?!" Robin found a sword being pointed at him; thankfully from far enough away that it didn't actually touch his skin. "Oh… Uncle. What do you need?"

"Actually, I'm here to ask what YOU need, if you'll just lower the sword."

"What do you mean?" She slowly sheathed Falchion.

"You've been acting very strange lately; especially around Link. Is there anything wrong?"

"No."

"You're a terrible liar, you know. I'm amazed you managed to disguise your gender for so long."

"Who says I'm lying?"

"You. Just last week, you were praising his sword skills after sparring him; you said he was the most amazing warrior you have ever seen; now you're denying his help in battle and just avoiding him in general. What changed?"

"Everything!" The volume of her response startled Robin. Lucina wasn't normally one to blow up. "He brought another evil! He has given me one more thing to defend against! It's one more secret that I must keep! It is one more burden on my shoulders! It is one more thing that may kill my parents! It is another way to end the world that I do not have control over! It's… it's…"

"Lucina, it isn't his fault."

"And how do you know that?! How do you know that he didn't bring it here?!"

"Because I trust him. Because he has done nothing but help us. Because he is one of us. Because he has loved ones that he left behind in order to help us."

"He… did?"

"Yes. I have had several fairly one-sided talks with him about it. He has friends and a loved one back where he came from."

"..."

"You're not the only one with the burden, you know. I have severe headaches from all that's happening, and I can't share it with anyone other than you and Link. I'm hiding it from Chrom, my best friend, and it's killing me. I'm even hiding it from my wife and daughter! And I'm sure Link is burdened by many things as well, though I'm unsure as to what they might be. The weight of this isn't only on you, Lucina." She was looking down at the ground. For a long time, silence pervaded the area. It was broken when Lucina shuffled her feet and looked up at Robin.

"I had not considered… I apologize, Robin. I shall attempt to set my biases aside and work with him."

"That's all I ask." He smiled, and turned to walk away, before thinking of something else. "Oh, one more thing."

"Yes?"

"You can talk to me about anything, anytime. You don't have to bottle up these emotions. I need you in your best shape; and you are my niece. I care about you." A small smile crept across Lucina's face, and Robin left. _I hope that's settled. I don't want to have to keep them away from each other._ He clapped his hands together, and looked around. "Right. I wonder if Morgan's convinced Lissa to join us." He took off in the direction of their temporary bed, a good feeling in his heart and doubt in his mind.

 **A/N: Finally got over writer's block! I managed to think of what needed to be said, and went with that. I hope it turned out well. I've been trying to practice dialogue, since I know I'm not the best at it, so you may see a lot more heartfelt moments in the future as opposed to battle scenes; but don't worry, there's still plenty of fighting to come. So, please review or PM me with any suggestions, pairings (because I've only had one suggestion on that), concerns or comments. You won't believe what's in store!**


	9. Chapter 9

Great. Just perfect. Here they were, only two days out of the Valm harbour, and what did they run into? Bandits. Not Risen, Walhart's soldiers or even hired mercenaries; no, they had been ambushed by bandits. The only thought that pervaded Robin's mind was that they were really out of practice. Being caught with their guard down by roaming bandits was actually quite embarrassing; especially since they were losing. Robin, Lissa, Link, Lucina, Morgan, Chrom and Sumia were all caught in a corner, barely a weapon between them. The only seemingly prepared ones were Link and Lucina, but since Link refused to harm humans and Lucina was purposely still avoiding him, coupled with the fact that she had actually been woken from a nap, and their chances were not looking too good.

"Anyone have any ideas?" Robin looked to the Shepherds around him.

"Us?! You're supposed to be the idea guy!" Lissa shouted.

"Well, the 'idea guy' is out of ideas!" Robin was losing hope fast. The bandits had managed to cut them off from the convoy, so no Shepherd was able to grab their weapons. Just as he was about to admit defeat, a sound echoed across the battlefield.

"DIVING DRAGON!" Robin's eyes shot up, and there, silhouetted against the dying sun, was a pegasus. As he watched, a man jumped off the mount's back, sword pointed towards the ground. He dove amongst the attacking bandits, landing on one and killing him instantly. "SPINNING STRIKE!" He began spiraling, sword outstretched, attempting to slice the bandits in half. Amazingly, it worked; until the enemy realized they could just duck, and the man got dizzy.

"Don't worry, cousin!" A woman's voice came from above, "I'll save you!" Robin felt the strong breeze of the pegasus' wings beating down on him as the creature swooped down. The duo, with the woman riding now clearly visible, shattered the ranks of their intended quarry. Her lance swept across the multitude of enemies, either sending them flying or skewering them. This sudden burst of resistance startled the bandits, and they began running. Lucina began to swing more vigorously at the remaining few, managing to end the lives of a few retreating adversaries. Robin could only stare at their two mysterious helpers as the man got up off the ground and the woman's pegasus daintily alighted.

The man was wearing a yellow garb that was quite long and flowing; he had very spiky silver hair, and as he stood up, he fell into a stance that made him have one hand in front of his face. The woman was dressed in what looked like custom pegasus knight armour; she had blue hair tied into two pigtails and was almost bouncing up and down in the saddle.

Before Robin could say anything, two voices simultaneously said the same word: "Sister!" Lucina ran to the blue-haired woman, who was just getting off the pegasus, and embraced her. The man ran over to… Morgan? Robin was dumbfounded. It only lasted a second though, and he managed to say "Sister?!" along with Lissa, Chrom, Lucina and Morgan.

Lucina stepped back from the woman. "Yes, this is my younger sister, Cynthia. Cynthia, meet Mother and Father."

"Hi Mom, hi Dad!" Cynthia ran over to the two and squeezed them in a hug. Chrom and Sumia looked at each other before returning the hug with just as much vigor. "I missed you guys…"

At the same time, Robin, Lissa and Morgan were having a similar conversation with the man.

"Indeed! I am Owain; scion of heroes and a legend of my time, and I am the older brother of this young lady! And you… are… my parents…" The realization of who he was talking to seemed to have just hit him. His eyes welled up, and he turned away from them. "I-I I mean, I am the offspring of you two legendary heroes!" It was easy to tell that he was getting choked up.

"You're… our son?" The only response to Lissa's question was a nod from Owain. Then Robin pulled him towards them with one arm, smothering him between himself and Lissa.

"Mom… Dad…" They pulled Morgan in, and only squeezed tighter.

After the families were reunited/met, they went around and introduced themselves to the rest of the Shepherds. It mostly went off without a hitch, with a few knowing smiles between the children, but there was one interesting talk.

"Who's this, Robin?"

"This, Cherche, is the man who saved us. Frederick, Cherche, I'd like you to meet Owain…"

"Gratitude, sir." Frederick reached out and shook Owain's hand.

"... My son." Frederick tensed. "He came back with Lucina, as did Cynthia."

"Cynthia?" Cherche quizzically tilted her head.

"Chrom's other daughter. Apparently he has another one, too."

"A son… I kind of want one." Cherche looked expectantly up at Frederick. He looked down and smiled half-heartedly. "What do you think, Freddy?" She grabbed his hand. His face became redder than the eyes of a Risen, practically glowing with embarrassment.

"Must we discuss this? Now?" Though the situation was obviously causing him discomfort, he never let go of Cherche's hand. Robin noticed Owain give a small smile, barely perceptible, but still there.

"Right. Owain still has someone to meet,"

"I do? But we already talked to all the Shepherds."

"Yes, you do. As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, we still have an introduction to get through, so we'll leave you two to your own devices. Owain, let's go." With that, he turned and left, a confused Owain in tow and the hateful glare of Frederick on his back.

"So…" Owain ran up beside Robin, "what legendary hero have we missed? Whom has this fearsome warrior not yet met?"

"A man by the name of Link. He has swept through numerous battalions with ease, and has managed to outmaneuver Lucina." His son's speech was rubbing off on him.

"Then I must meet this legendary man! I must know what drives these feats, what divine power has been given to this unstoppable hero!"

"Well, here's your chance. This is his tent." Robin pulled the flap aside. "Link? There's someone here I'd like you to meet."

"Ahoy there, skilled warrior!" Link smiled at the new member.

"Link, this is Owain, my son… apparently." Link only shook Owain's hand.

"Father, are you certain this is a mighty warrior? He is even younger than Morgan; and she's the youngest one here!"

"Well, if you don't believe me, have a sparring match with him; if he's willing." Link nodded.

"Then I shall test your mettle, supposed warrior! Come; to the field of battle!" Owain shot from the tent, leaving the two of them standing in stunned silence.

"I suppose we'll have to get used to him." Link nodded and ran after Owain. Something hit Robin. "I probably should have told him that Link can't speak… oh, well. He'll figure it out." Robin walked out of the tent, and set off across the camp, towards the sparring ring. He didn't want Owain to get too hurt.

 **A/N: Another introductory chapter. This time, we met two children from the future, and we may meet more later. We'll see. I knew that I wanted to introduce them in this chapter, but I didn't really have many other ideas, so I hope it went over well. It's going to be fun writing Owain. So, please review or PM with any concerns, questions or comments that you may have. They're always appreciated!**


	10. Chapter 10

Say'ri's description of the tree didn't do it justice. Before them towered the Mila Tree; a beautiful place of worship that actually touched the clouds. Robin was surprised that he didn't notice it until they were quite close. They were standing at its roots, which also managed to tower above every Shepherd present, debating what to do. There was only one way up the tree, and up the tree is where they needed to go, but it just so happened to be surrounded by enemies. They didn't dare scout ahead in case of any archers lying in wait in the treetop, and to keep the element of surprise.

"So, Robin, what's the plan?"

"Hm?" He was snapped out of his reverie by the man with blue hair. "Oh, right. Well… I'm not sure. I have no idea what opposition we face up there, and no way to find out. Your 'master strategist' has no strategy."

"You have to have some kind of plan!" Lissa walked up to them, dragging the children with her. "You're the smartest person ever! It's one of the many reasons that I married you!" This warranted a groan from Owain and Morgan.

"Indeed, father! You are a legendary tactician; your feats are too numerous to count! I share the sentiments of my famed mother!"

"Just so long as you don't also mean the part about why you married him." Morgan stifled a giggle at the face Owain made.

"Our assembled group is made of heroes that have accomplished the impossible. They have an unwavering faith in their lead tactician, and they will achieve any goal he sets them. I know you can do it father; I believe in you!"

Robin was silent. Just as his family began to wonder if they had broken him, he broke out into a smile. "You know what, Owain? You're right. I can't doubt myself; if I do, everyone else will lose faith."

"That's one way to look at it. So, do you have a plan yet, Robin?"

"Not quite. I still need to see the battlefield, but I do have an idea. I only hope it works."

"That's all we need. Shepherds! Time to move out!"

They were nearing the top of the roots. Robin could just barely make out the commander, standing at the very base of the tree, sporting an incredible moustache and heavy red armour. He had several guards around him, as per the usual tactic. But something was off. The guards looked slightly terrified, and Robin was sure that they hadn't seen the Shepherds yet.

"Link, Lucina, Sully, Frederick, Nowi and Vaike, I want you up at the front. Be careful. Something seems off." The addressed few silently made their way to the front of the party, and stopped. "What's wrong? We aren't even all the way-" His own surprise cut him off. Just beyond the branch they were on, the enemy was out in force. They were on every root, vastly outnumbering them and guarding every inch of the tree; but that wasn't the surprise. They had faced odds like this before, but not what was amongst them. Between at least every two soldiers was a creature, almost at human height, but decidedly not human. They were purple-skinned, had white hair that was in a strange dreadlock-ponytail combination, gigantic heads that were honestly quite terrifying, and they had been outfitted with Valmese gear. It looked both terrifying and awkward. Before Robin even had time to come to terms with the bemusing sight before him, he heard the unsheathing of a sword and patter of footsteps. Snapping out of his trance, he saw Link charging towards the enemy.

"WAIT!" His call was too late. Link had already made his way to the closest Valmese soldier. He turned around just in time to be smacked by Link's shield. The swordsman ran over the unconscious enemy, and headed straight for the strange creatures. Robin could only stare in awe as the green warrior proceeded to slice one of the creatures clean in half. As it fell to the root below, it… exploded? It wasn't much of an explosion, only causing a small burn on the tree, but it still exploded. It was so baffling that Robin didn't even notice the Valmese knight attempting to run him through.

"Look out!"

"Huh?" He turned just in time to see Lissa deflecting the blow with her staff. He ducked to the side, narrowly avoiding falling off the tree, and fired a small jolt of lightning at the soldier. He heard a thud as they fell from the branch to the ground below. He got up and dusted himself off, only to see the angry face of his wife. "Um… thanks, dear."

"Next time, watch your own back!" She marched off in a huff towards the rest of the fighting.

"I'll have to sort that out later…" Robin sighed and charged up the roots.

The battle was fierce. The roots made for unstable footing, and these soldiers were not like the small forces that they had previously faced. These enemies seemed to come from Walhart's more elite forces; the man in charge, Cervantes, was his right-hand man. Also, Robin was distracted. He was still in awe of Link's ferocity regarding the creatures. He was slashing clean through most of them, even through their armour, and deflecting anything that was thrown his way. Link swept his way through, clearing out nearly all of the creatures but still avoiding hitting any humans with the blade of his sword. He did deal the occasional blow with his shield or pommel to them, but most of his focus was on the creatures.

By the time Robin and Chrom had reached Cervantes, most of the creatures were dispatched. Just as Chrom was about to deliver the final blow on the impressively moustachioed man, the entire tree shook with the force of an incredibly strong impact. In the stumbling and confusion, Cervantes managed to evade them.

"Gods, what was that? Could it have something to do with those creatures?" Chrom was staring up at the top of the divine tree, looking at the leaves that were now falling. _Well, I guess the cat's out of the bag now…_ Robin looked over to Lucina, who was clearly exhausted… and looking at Link. It wasn't the usual wary stare, it was one of admiration. She had seen his feat, and seemed to be growing more fond of him.

"Robin? Do you know something about these creatures?" Obviously, Robin had betrayed more than he wanted to. He looked into the accusing yet concerned eyes of his best friend, and gave in.

"I've been… suspicious of something like this happening." When Chrom stayed silent, Robin continued his explanation. "It started back when we met Link. I had a small conversation with him regarding who he was and why he came here. It… it occurred to me that he was here to stop a terrible evil, and it was all the more confirmed when Lucina showed up. I didn't want to tell you because of everything that you had on your shoulders, what with a second war and becoming exalt. I… I'm sorry for not telling you." There was a long pause. Chrom's expression remained stoic; a trick he had obviously learned from Frederick. After far too long, he sighed and put a hand on Robin's shoulder.

"You don't need to apologize."

"I'm pretty sure I do. I kept you in the dark from-"

"Just listen." Robin could hardly ignore a demand from the exalt and his brother-in-law. "You've been carrying a burden that did not have to be your own. It's true that I would have liked to have known this earlier, but it can't be helped. Your heart was in the right place, and I cannot fault you for that." He smiled at the tactician, who couldn't help but smile back. Their moment was interrupted by yet another shake of the tree.

"Lord Chrom; tactician!" Say'ri came running up to them. "I suggest we hurry to the top! These rumblings are not an occurrence I have experienced here!" The two nodded and began to make the long trek up the enormous tree.

Robin got an earful from Lissa as they made their way up. She was berating him about "keeping track of his surroundings like a good tactician should!" as Morgan and Owain watched, holding in silent laughter. Just as Link began to join in on the merriment, the tree shook again. Lissa nearly fell off, but Robin caught her just in time.

"I hope that makes us even." He hoisted her up with a smirk.

"I suppose…" She pouted. "I'm gonna need a better apology later, though."

"That I can take care of." Lissa giggled, and everyone else within earshot gagged.

"If you're done flirting with my sister, we've arrived at the top." In front of them was a massive temple, situated in the branches of the tree. It managed to comfortably have a courtyard, several outdoor pillars and the temple itself was large enough to house all of them. It had been partially overgrown by moss and the tree itself, making it look as if it were centuries old. There was evidence of a recent battle etched into the stone slabs that made up the platform. From the other side of the temple, they could hear something not unlike Nowi's roar, but more ferocious.

"This is normally a place of peace; Walhart's men may have disturbed the lady Tiki!" With that, Say'ri shot off in the direction of the temple.

"Somebody go with her!" Link heeded Robin's call and chased after the swordswoman. "Come on, people! We need to help them!" Robin began to run around the other side of the temple, attempting to flank whatever was making the tree shake to its roots. As he neared the other side, the sounds of an intense fight grew louder and louder; but they also began to be mixed with very odd sounds. The only way Robin could describe the noise was 'insect-like'. When he rounded the corner, fear made him stop in his tracks. Before him was an enormous spider. It was nearly as big as the temple itself; its gigantic hairy legs towering above the suddenly very small-feeling man. This beast seemed to be immensely powerful, as it was going up against a dragon; and winning. The green dragon was being severely beaten back by the spiked legs and… laser?! Yes, it appeared that the monstrous spider was also capable of shooting a beam of energy out of a spot on its back. Robin's eyes were forcefully torn away from the duel of monsters by a shout coming from the other side of the temple. Say'ri had dropped her sword, and was staring just as intently as Robin had been. Link appeared behind her, stood for a moment, then reached into his pouch. Robin couldn't see what the boy pulled out, but he did see the results. Link aimed his arm at one of the nearby pillars and shot a chain at it that pulled him up. He then fired another chain at the top of another pillar that was significantly closer to the massive spider. When he had clambered onto the top, the boy reached into the pouch yet again, this time pulling out the ball and chain. He slowly began to swing the massive weight, waiting for something. It seemed as if the dragon had seen him because it began to move closer to his pillar, making the massive spider follow. Breaths of fire and blasts of energy were exchanged as the duelling giants made their way over to the swirling ball of metal atop the stone pillar. Once the enormous spider was close enough to the pillar, Link jumped. Tossing the metal ball above his head, he dove towards the back of the massive spider. Seeing what he was doing, the dragon grabbed him and tossed the green-clad man higher into the air, much to everyone, including the spider's, surprise. When Link got to the top of his arch, he turned around and threw the metal ball towards the spider's back. With a mighty "Heeyyaahh!" the metal ball slammed down on the enormous beast, hitting its mark. It gave out a shrill noise that nearly deafened Robin, and began to crumple under the impact. Link landed next to where the ball struck and quickly climbed down the creature, pulling the ball and chain behind him. The spider's legs began to contort into extremely unnatural shapes, and its whole body began to turn black. When it finally stopped moving, it slowly dissolved into black rectangles that floated off into the sky.

Robin watched, open-mouthed, as Link merely sauntered over to him, as if nothing had happened. "Wha… how… I don't…" was all he managed to say. Link merely glanced back at the particles receding into the distance, and smiled at Robin. He walked past as Robin continued to just stare at the marvel that walked by.

"Excuse me…" Robin turned, his jaw practically touching the floor, and faced whomever just spoke. It was a woman with green hair, a pink outfit and a very tired look. "Who are you?"

"Oh, uh…" he managed to close his mouth and regain his composure. "I'm Robin, and that incredible boy was Link. We're part of the Shepherds, and we came here seeking help."

"And who told you *yawn* that help was here?"

"Her." Robin pointed across to the other side of the temple at Say'ri, who was walking over to them in quite the daze. "And who are you?"

"Oh, my apologies. I am Tiki."

"Do you happen to be a manakete?"

"Yes; I am the one who fought that nightmarish beast."

"I thought so." He smiled at her and walked off to find Chrom, who had hopefully witnessed what had just happened. Despite what he may or may not have brought, Link was definitely an asset.

 **A/N: So, who expected that? Not the evil minions; the defeat via ball and chain. I certainly hope I wrote it to the epic proportions that I have imagined it. And hey, Chrom now knows! If you have any questions, comments, concerns or suggestions, please review or PM; any criticism is good criticism. Until the next chapter!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey guys! Real quick, I want to address the issue of what boss was in the last chapter. From now on, if I have one, it will more than likely be named at the beginning of the next chapter, because I don't really have a way of telling the name in-story. They will mostly be Twilight Princess bosses, so keep that in mind. The one from the last chapter was Armogohma, the giant eye-lasering spider from the Temple of Time. Anyway, on with the chapter!**

Today felt great. Tiki had gladly joined with the Shepherds, though she did need to restore her full power. In order to do that, they had to get past Yen'fay's forces and head to the Divine Dragon grounds. This didn't bother Robin because of the incredible warrior in their midst. He had told everyone he could find about the incredible feat that the young swordsman had accomplished. The young man had received so much praise from his peers that he was now hiding for fear of being trampled by fans. There was still one person that hadn't heard of his heroic feat. As Robin approached her tent, he began to play out the conversation in his mind, but when he tried, he just couldn't predict her reaction. Taking a deep breath, Robin tapped on the flap of his niece's tent.

"Who's there?"

"It's me, your uncle."

"Oh. Come in, Uncle Robin." Robin pushed the flap aside and stepped into the princess' tent. She was sat on her bedroll, polishing her fabled blade.

"Well, your dad knows." Her head shot up. "It was easy enough to figure out, what with all the terrifying creatures."

"At least that is one secret I no longer have to keep." She gave a defeated smile.

"Hey, I'm glad I don't have to be secretive around everyone anymore too. And whether or not you want to accept it, Link is the one who we have to thank; for both revealing the truth and saving the day."

"He is also the one responsible for the secrecy." There was a brief moment of silence before she realized the second part of his sentence. "He… saved the day?"

"Yep. You won't believe the tale I have to tell."

Robin recounted the story to Lucina, her face constantly switching emotions. It went from terrified, to concerned, to stunned, to horrified and finally to relieved. When the story was done, Robin waited for her to say something. She was silent for far too long, and just as Robin was about to break the uncomfortable tension between them, she spoke.

"That is… quite the tale."

"I know! I can hardly believe it, and I was there to witness it. The most unrealistic part of it for me was how calm Link was." When silence once again pervaded the area, Robin thought of something. "You should go thank him." Lucina shot him a look of confusion and anger. "I'm serious. He saved the vessel of the Divine Dragon and stopped every single one of those creatures while we battled the Valmese."

"I doubt that my thanks would mean much. What is the word of one woman compared to the rest of the Shepherds?"

"The fact that it's your word."

"I don't take your meaning."

"You also came here from another place in pursuit of a better future. You two have quite a lot in common, and coming from someone in a similar position will mean all the more." Lucina looked down at the weapon in her lap, seemingly contemplating the idea. "Besides, you need to have a conversation with him. You may just find out who he really is. And who knows; maybe your apology can be for two things." Her brow furrowed at this comment, and Robin thought it best to leave. Just as his foot left the tent, Lucina quietly called to him.

"You're right, uncle; as always."

"I'm here to help." And with that, he left the tent in search of something to do. That something found him.

He was meandering around the camp, attempting to seek out his family when a hand on his shoulder stopped him. He turned around to find Frederick staring him in the face.

"Um… hello, Frederick."

"Robin, I need advice."

"Oh, no. Not again. Look, Frederick, Lissa and I already gave you as much information as we could, but-"

"This is different." The serious tone the knight had adopted was not his usual training one; he was genuinely worried about something. "Can we talk in private?"

"Uh… I guess. Here, let's go to my tent." They walked in silence to Robin's tent. He was trying to think of what it might be that had the usually unfazeable knight worried and required a private location. They entered the lightly furnished tent, and Robin faced Frederick. "Okay, what's up? You look worried."

"It was that obvious?"

"To me it was; then again, it is my job to scrutinize everything."

Frederick gave a deep sigh. "Excellent point. Now, on to my reason." Robin braced himself for whatever fearful thing may come out of the knight's mouth. "I wish to propose." Robin nearly fell over.

"Propose?! Not to me, I hope!"

"Please, lower your voice! Fear not; I am not proposing to you. I intend to propose to Cherche."

"Frederick, that's wonderful! Do you have a ring?"

"Yes." From some hidden pocket, he produced a gold band and showed it to Robin.

"Wow. You really went all-out." It was detailed with intricate designs that looked Celtic. On the inside of the ring was an engraving of Cherche's name, and the top of it sported a diamond that rivaled the sun itself. "You're pretty serious about this."

"I am. The advice I need from you is how to propose. Also, I believe I am experiencing what you may call butterflies; though the ring is extravagant, I'm unsure as to whether or not I can go through with this." Only a moment passed before Robin came up with an answer.

"Do you love her?"

"Pardon?"

"Do you love Cherche?"

"Of course. I would not even considered marriage if I did not."

"Then you have nothing to fear. Pour your heart out to her, and that should be enough."

"But is this life not hectic? Does it never get truly tiring?"

"Well…" before he could answer, Owain came charging through the tent flap. He quickly hid behind his father, shaking with fear. Robin noticed that he was holding both a book and a staff, things not typical of his extravagant son.

"Father! Help! Two fearsome assassins have come to claim a bounty on my head, and will stop at nothing to gain it!" Just as he said this, the tent flap opened again revealing a very angry Lissa and an even angrier Morgan. "There! There are the fiends who are making an attempt on my life!" Robin looked at the two angry women standing at the front of his tent.

"What did he do this time?"

"He engraved names into every single one of my staves; even the one you gave me for my birthday!"

"He spilled ink all over one of my books! Plus, he's taken my favourite one! You can see it in his arms!" Morgan pointed an accusing finger at her brother.

"Okay, Owain. I'll help."

"What?!" The cries of two angry women reverberated throughout the camp. Robin merely gave them a small wink.

"Thank you, father!" Then, quick as a Thoron, Robin reached behind himself and brought Owain in front of him. In the exact same motion, he grabbed the staff and book out of his son's hands. "Wh- Dad!"

"I didn't say who I was helping, did I?" He tossed the taken objects back to their owners. He leant down and whispered in his son's ear. "Owain, you'd better run. You never know what they might do." Owain nodded then took off faster than the eye could see. Morgan gave chase, brandishing her book as if it were some kind of club. Lissa dawdled.

"Thanks!" She gave Robin a peck on the cheek, and, staff raised, charged after Owain shouting various insults at her son. Robin turned back to Frederick to see an amused yet horrified expression on his face.

"In answer to your question, Frederick: yes, it is hectic, but that's what makes it all the more worthwhile." He left the knight to ponder his words, and began to chase down his family. _And the more tiring it is, the more fun it's bound to be._ He chuckled to himself at the antics his family managed to get into. _It's always worth it._

 **A/N: What did you think? This chapter is mainly here to address any confusion as to where Frederick and Cherche are and to make an attempt at solving the issues between Lucina and Link. It's much more dialogue-heavy than the last one, but it's kind of necessary. If you have any questions, concerns, comments or suggestions, don't be afraid to review or PM. Anything you have to say helps!**


	12. Chapter 12

Fort Steiger. Even though they had snuck in in order to battle Walhart's forces, Robin couldn't help but admire the architecture. Every wall had some kind of detail in it, whether it be via engraving or banner depicting Walhart's symbol, the place was, in a way, quite astounding. Intricately carved pillars spotted the enormous room, each with a jewel embedded in the top; the decor could rival that of the Ylissean palace, and the walls practically screamed fancy. The only thing marring the spectacle before them was the enemy soldiers scattered throughout. Unfortunately, the elegant walls and decorations obscured enemy positions, making it nearly impossible for Robin to instantly devise a strategy. They would have to scout and fight at the same time; something that went against every fibre of his tactical being.

"We can do this, Robin." Chrom smiled at the clearly distraught tactician. "We have to." Robin nodded. The group of Shepherds moved forward, slowly advancing on the unsuspecting forces. Just as they were about to reach the enemy lines, magical runes displayed themselves before Robin, seemingly teleporting a man with possibly the biggest mouth anyone had ever seen.

"Well, well." The man practically cackled at the Shepherds, enormous teeth bared in a weasley grin. "This is the famous tactician? Rather, this WAS!"

"Who are you?" Robin drew his sword and pointed it at the man.

"I am Excellus, and I am extremely busy. I'm sure Pheros can take care of you in my stead. If you'll excuse me, I have a world to conquer!" He gave a raucous laugh before teleporting away, leaving the small band of warriors both fearful and confused.

"Okay…" Lissa was the first one to speak. "That was weird."

"At least he knew me. I must be quite the superstar." Robin gave a cheeky wink at his wife, to which she responded with a raspberry. "Distractions aside, let's get moving. Everyone pair up and move out; they must know we're here already." The response he got was the clank of armour and the swish of weapons being drawn. Lissa sauntered up beside him, pulling a tome out of her dress and beaming at Robin. Morgan and Owain appeared on the other side, Owain flailing his hand around and Morgan bouncing on the spot. Beside them was Link, shield at the ready and… Lucina? _At least she can stand to be beside him,_ Robin thought, looking back to the forces before them. They were scattered about, guarding however much of the fort they could, staring the Shepherds down. Right away, Robin noticed something particularly strange: they weren't moving. Walhart's forces were standing back, smiles plastered on their faces.

"What are they doing?" Chrom called from the back of Sumia's pegasus.

"Not sure." Robin yelled back. "Be careful; they're up to something." He motioned for the Shepherds to move forward, and they charged.

"My sword hand hungers!" Owain and Morgan rushed ahead of the pack, eager to start the fight. As they approached, Robin saw something: one of the pillars moved. The gem that was atop it lit up, and began to turn towards his future children. He heard a noise from beside him, and glanced over to see Link outstretching his arm, trying to warn the oblivious kids. Robin looked back again to see that the pillar had rotated towards Morgan and Owain, and the gem was beginning to glow brighter.

"Look out!" Robin managed to call to them just in time, making them jump to the side as a beam of energy erupted from the gem right where they were standing. It began to follow them, burning the once-pretty brick floor in its wake. They quickly moved back, out of its apparent range. The pillar stopped its onslaught of energy and began to only rotate in place, accompanied by the maniacal laughter of Walhart's forces.

"What is this foul witchery? It is preventing my sword hand from calming its unbridled fury!"

"I don't know, big bro, but it is not cool! Hey, that rhymed!"

"Pat yourself on the back later, Morgan. Right now, we need to focus on taking the fort." Robin scanned the immediate area, looking for any way around. He spied two small openings, one on each side, that could serve as their route. "Lucina, Link; you two take that passage to the right. Lissa and I will take the right. We have to go and take out those pillars!" Instantly, the soldiers on the other side of the room moved forward, having heard his plan. "Great. Everyone else! Take out those soldiers! Don't get close to the pillars until we've dealt with them!" He heard the Shepherds charge forward as he and Lissa moved down the small hallway. Robin poked his head around the corner, just in time for a laser to shoot past. His head shot back behind the wall, and his hand shot out to stop Lissa. "It's right there, practically looking at us."

"Well then, what do we do?"

"We could try-" He was cut off by a scream from the other side. Robin managed to get a view of where it came from, and saw Lucina on the ground, having been tripped by something. The pillar on her side was turning towards her, and she was struggling to get up. The gem was now pointed at her, glowing brighter. She let out a gasp and closed her eyes, ready for the inevitable searing pain as the sound of energy came at her. And she waited. And waited. Lucina slowly opened her eyes, only to see a green figure standing between her and the laser. She let out another small gasp. Link was standing in front of her, his shield taking the onslaught of energy that was trying to fry her to a crisp. He turned back and looked at her, face illuminated by the light of the intense beam, and gave a strained smile. She stood up as fast as she could, and scurried around the corner. Still shielding himself from the beam, Link reached into his pocket once more and pulled out… a bow?! "Gods, how many things can he fit in one pouch?!"

"What? What is it? I can't see!" Lissa was pulling on Robin, trying to get a view of what was happening without getting her head lasered off.

"Link just pulled a bow out of his pouch! And now he's… going back behind the corner?"

"What? Awww, I didn't get to see anything!"

"You'll get your chance, I'm sure." Robin looked back across the room and saw Link's bow peeking out from behind the corner. It was just waiting there, simply watching the pillar turn. Then, without warning, it shot at the pillar, the sound of a shattering gem following. The pillar slowed, eventually stopping and settling in place, the space the red gem once occupied now devoid of any colour. Link and Lucina stepped out from behind the pillar, a look of disbelief on Lucina's face, and a look of contentment on Link's. _Why didn't I think of that?_ Apparently, someone else had the same idea.

"Hey! I want to do the heroics!" A blue-haired girl on a pegasus came dashing down the hallway, straight towards the still-active pillar. Her lance slammed into the gem at full force, making a deafening sound resonate throughout the fort. "Cynthia saves the day!"

"Cynthia! Get away!"

"Huh?" Robin's call came too late. A beam of energy collided with Cynthia's shoulder, knocking her off the pegasus. The only sounds that followed were the thump as she hit the floor, along with the clanging of her shattered lance. The gem began to glow once more, aimed at the girl lying prone on the floor. Another arrow shot through the air, destroying the crystalline object. Robin looked over to see Link lowering his bow once more.

"Lissa, come on! Cynthia's hurt!" They rushed over to the bluenette, who was gripping her shoulder.

"Hi, Uncle Robin; Aunt Lissa."

"What were you thinking?! You could have died!" Lissa pulled out her staff and began to heal Cynthia's shoulder.

"I wanted to be the hero… Like you guys."

"You can't be a very good hero if you get yourself killed."

"Heh… makes sense."

"Aaaannndd done! Your shoulder's all better! Don't you dare go doing anything reckless again!"

"Okay, Aunt Lissa."

"Sorry, Cynthia, but you're going to have to go to the back. Without your pegasus, you aren't as good." A heavy sigh came from the girl in question.

"Okay…" Robin watched her dejectedly walk off to fight alongside her cousins.

The battle continued on fiercely. The pillars were scattered throughout the fortress, forcing Link to practically dance from one side of it to the other. Shattered crystals and stone-cold machines were the only things left after the battle was ended and Pheros defeated.

"Say'ri!" Chrom and Robin rushed over to the swordmaster, who was retrieving her sword from its last victim. "The rebels have infiltrated the fort! We've won!"

"Aye, it seems that, despite the strange odds, we have carried the day." Just then, they heard something coming towards them. The trio turned and found Stahl galloping their way, a look of utter terror on his face.

"Guys, the rebels have switched to Walhart's side!"

"What?! No!"

"I don't want to believe it either, but it's true! Chrom, we have to leave!"

"Blast it! Robin, do you agree?"

"Yeah, I do. We're exhausted; definitely not ready for another fight. Plus, I don't want us harming anyone we don't have to."

"Alright. Shepherds! Let's go!" The small band of warriors left the fortress as quickly as they could. Despite whatever small success they may have had, they had lost the day. But the war? Well, that wasn't over yet.

 **A/N: I'm just gonna say it: sorry. This is a very mediocre chapter, mainly because I couldn't think of anything too interesting to do in the fort. I guess Beamos will have to do. I still did it because, if you hadn't realized, I want to go through the story chapters. So, please review or PM with any questions, concerns or suggestions. Help is always appreciated!**


	13. Chapter 13

It was hot. Not just hot, it was scorching. The volcano known as the Demon's Ingle would certainly prove to be a very interesting battleground. They were traversing up the side of the mountain, liquid hot magma either side of them. Robin needed something to keep his mind from wondering how many of the Shepherds would die to the lava. The perfect thing was walking right in front of him.

"Hey Freddy!" The stoic knight turned to face the smirking tactician.

"That nickname is reserved for Cherche and the royal household."

"What, aren't I part of the 'royal household'? I am married to Lissa."

The knight sighed in defeat. "Your point is valid. Did you only wish to try my patience, or was there something you wanted?"

"Actually, yes to both. I wanted to know how it went with Cherche. What happened?"

"It went… well." Frederick's face barely managed to contain his smile.

"Frederick, that's wonderful! I knew she'd say yes!"

"Please, Robin, not so loud. I wish for this to remain covert for as long as possible."

"Okay, okay… wait, YOU wish for this to remain covert?"

His face turned a deep shade of red. "Er, yes. I do not want Lord Chrom to worry about our wedding, so I feel it best-"

"Frederick, tell him. He needs something good to distract him from this horrid war, just like how I came to talk to you. Plus, Lissa would get it out of me pretty quick."

"Excellent point. I shall tell him as soon as-"

"No, tell him now! Trust me, it's always best to tell Chrom something happy as soon as it comes up. That's why he was so eager to host my wedding."

"Very well." Frederick sighed and walked in the direction of the blue-haired exalt.

"Hey! What were you two talking about?" Lissa, either just or twice as sweaty as Robin, walked up beside him. Evidently, she also needed something to keep her mind off the heat.

"Oh, nothing… just Frederick and Cherche's wedding." Robin smirked at the dropped jaw of his wife.

"What?! Really?! That's amazing! I have to tell Chrom right now!" Robin grabbed her arm as she began to run forward, and simply nodded his head in the man in question's direction. Frederick was now just behind the Exalt, waiting for him to be done talking with Cynthia.

"Already taken care of." Frederick looked back at Robin, who merely waved his hand, ushering the knight forward. Robin couldn't hear the conversation, but he could tell when it ended; Chrom wrapped his arm around Frederick and gave a laugh that could be heard throughout the line of Shepherds. "I think it went well."

The inside of the burning mountain was even worse than Robin could have imagined. Not only was it scorchingly hot due to the copious amounts of lava coursing between the rocks underfoot, but there were also numerous Valmese soldiers headed by Yen'fay himself. The soldiers seemed to be his personal guard, as they were all wearing ornate armour and had extremely menacing weapons. Robin noticed that Yen'fay was surveying the battlefield in the exact same way; determining what course of action would guarantee victory. The only difference: Yen'fay was smiling. Evidently, he knew something that Robin did not. That was when Robin saw it. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a rock _move_. Upon closer inspection, it wasn't a rock at all; it was some form of giant, armoured lizard with an enormous flat, red tail. And there wasn't just one; they dotted the landscape, generally sticking close to the lava, seemingly allying themselves with the Valmese. _Great. More "friends" of Link's. I hope he knows how to deal with them._

"Link, I believe some of your buddies have joined us." Robin pointed to one of the creatures, and saw Link tighten the grip on his blade. "Do you have to beat them, or can we help?" Link merely smiled, and took off. "I don't know what that means!" His words were lost on the green warrior. "Chrom, can you go with him? Try to find out how to beat those things while you're at it."

"Tell me you have a plan."

"Don't I always?" Robin gave a cheeky grin to the blue-haired exalt as he sped off, shaking his head. Robin then turned back to the other Shepherds. "Lucina, you and Owain take Lon'qu, Maribelle, Nowi and Ricken up the left side. Lissa, you and Morgan take Vaike, Sully, Stahl and Olivia up the right; we're going to try a flanking maneuver. Frederick, Cherche, Cynthia and I will take the middle. No heroics." Robin looked directly at Cynthia as he said this, who tried to hide behind her pegasus' head.

Their time in the volcano was an uphill battle. The rocks around them slowly degraded from the intense heat, so they had to constantly keep on the move lest they end up in the molten rocks below. The Valmese soldiers also didn't help. They were vicious; unrelenting in their brutal attacks. If it hadn't been for Cynthia, Robin would have lost his arm in a scrap with one of the swordsmasters. During the fights against the Valmese, Robin had learned some very interesting things about the giant lizards. First, they could shoot fire. Second, their armoured scales were almost impenetrable to every weapon they had. Third, the tails were vulnerable. Chrom had shouted this to him from across the field, unfortunately making every single one of the creatures and Valmese head in their direction. Robin could only facepalm and attempt to direct attention back at his squad.

They made their slow way past the explode-upon-death creatures and the extremely tough Valmese soldiers, eventually ending up at Yen'fay. The swordsmaster dressed in black stared at the oncoming Shepherds without so much as blinking.

"Yen'fay!" He looked over and saw Chrom, a green boy in tow, rushing up to him. "You are a fool to follow Walhart!"

"I merely follow the strongest leader."

"We don't want to harm you. We know your sister, Say'ri. She wants you to defy Walhart just as much as us."

"So she is safe…"

"Yes, she is. Please, Yen'fay, join us. I don't want to have to kill you."

"You presume much, prince. I am not so easily killed." Yen'fay fell into a battle stance, challenging the blue royalty before him. Chrom went into his usual battle stance as well. Their blades clashed in a flurry of sparks that put the lava around them to shame. The sounds of steel against steel rang throughout the volcano as the blades clashed again and again, each strike blocked by the opposing sword. Robin and Cynthia flew over to the duelling… duo in order to try and give Chrom the upper hand. Yen'fay saw the flying horse approach as he once again locked blades with the exalt.

"Do not interfere!" He made a hand signal to something unseeable. From the surprising amount of darkness behind him, thunderous footsteps made the ground beneath Chrom and Yen'fay tremble. When Robin saw what had made the footsteps, he had to suspend his disbelief. Out of the dark strode a knight encased in black armour sporting a massive shield and even bigger sword. Intimidating armaments aside, that was not what made Robin suspend his disbelief; it was the sheer size of it. It was twice the size of Yen'fay, and he was not a short man. "Deal with the intruders!"

"Cynthia, move!" She heeded the call of the tactician as the enormous sword sailed past the riders and their mount.

"Um… Uncle? How are we supposed to stop that thing?!"

"I don't know, but it looks like he does!" Robin pointed to Link, sword drawn, rushing at the gigantic knight. Its slow-moving attitude was no match for Link's incredible speed. With one intense strike, Link tore a piece off of the monster's armour, making it falter for the briefest of seconds. That was all Robin would need. "Cynthia, do exactly what Link did, but aim for the chest piece!"

"You got it!" Cynthia swooped down towards the massive foe, avoiding the immense sword. Her first onslaught of attacks did little to weaken the armour, only seeming to enrage the monstrous warrior. Link's blade struck it again, this time only bouncing off the immense shield.

"Aim for the straps!" Cynthia once again charged towards the black knight while it had its back turned, this time heading for a miniscule opening on its shoulder. A loud snap resounded as her lance hit the gigantic being. As they backed away, Cynthia took a fearful glance down at her lance, and saw that it was intact. An enormous thud echoed around them as the chestpiece of the knight fell to the ground. _Now or never._ Robin pulled a tome from his robes, and took aim at the dark shape. "Rexcalibur!" A torrent of wind escaped his hand and headed towards the opening on the knight's chest. It swirled around it, ripping the armour from its body. Underneath was, seemingly, another knight in red with a smaller sword around its waist. It still had the enormous sword, which it threw at Link. He narrowly dodged the projectile, and looked up to Robin and Cynthia in thanks.

"Look out!" Cynthia was the only one to see the now much speedier knight rush towards Link, smaller sword drawn. Link blocked the incoming attack with his shield, making it stumble. He took the opportunity to roll around behind it and slash up its back, making it elicit a horrifying sound of pain. It turned and swung at Link again, only for the attack to be dodged by Link's smaller frame. Link tried his luck at the same attack, but was deflected by the knight. There was another brief sword against shield moment before Link rolled away from the knight. Then he did something that made Robin question his sanity and Cynthia gasp. He sheathed his weapons. The knight charged at the green warrior, who remained completely still. The knight was almost upon Link, sword aimed directly at his heart. Cynthia turned away, but Robin continued to look on. In the blink of an eye, Link had drawn his sword and brought it down across the giant's face, practically cleaving it in two. A horrendous scream rang out through the volcano, stopping every fight in its tracks. Yen'fay finally managed to show an emotion other than smug, and stood with a look of surprise on his face. It was a distraction that Chrom needed. With one swift motion, Chrom managed to plunge his blade through Yen'fay's heart. He withdrew it and the man turned to the Exalt, a smile on his face.

"Keep Say'ri safe…" He fell to his knees and collapsed to the ground, his last breath escaping his lifeless body. Robin and Cynthia alighted next to the saddened exalt, Link running up behind.

"We did it! We're heroes!" Chrom could only give a half-hearted smile at his daughter's enthusiasm.

"Yeah…" He looked back to the body of Yen'fay, face becoming sullen once again. "But at what cost?"

 **A/N: This chapter was tough. Up until now, this story has been very fun to write, but this chapter wasn't filled with 'feel-good' moments (well, except for the beginning). Yen'fay's death is always a very sad thing, especially considering that it's always unavoidable. Oh, and I hope my attempt at integrating both Dodongos and Darknuts was respectable. Anyway, as always, if you have any questions, concerns or suggestions, don't be afraid to PM or review. Getting help always encourages me to write more, so interacting is a win-win!**


	14. Chapter 14

The cold winter winds were chilling Robin to his bones. In the light of the Mila Tree and the heat of the Demon's Ingle, winter didn't seem like so much of a problem. Now that they had no magical enchantments or lava surrounding them, they could really feel the late November weather.

"Brr, it's cold!" Lissa was shivering beside him, despite her heavy coat. Robin promptly wrapped his own coat around them both.

"Really? Is that why we're wearing our heavy _winter_ gear?" She gave him a light punch, but still accepted the cloak.

"Ha-ha. It seems like my lessons in the art of hilarity have not helped you."

"Well, they helped a bit. I mean, I can tolerate your pranks now."

"Aw, you two are so cute!" Morgan skipped up to them, cheerful as ever. "All cuddled up together! It's absolutely adorable!"

"Yeah, I suppose he is cute… even when he's a jerk."

"Hey!"

"What? I said you were cute!"

"Well, I guess I can't be mad at that." Robin pulled Lissa in closer. "Plus, I'm not the only adorable one."

"Thanks, Dad!" Robin and Lissa rolled their eyes. This touching family moment was interrupted by the roars of a wyvern overhead. The three looked up to see Cherche flying overhead, heading towards the front of the party. They were headed to the Divine Dragon grounds in order to give Tiki her full power, with a detour along the way. Cherche and Minerva wanted to see the wyvern's birthplace in Wyvern Valley, and nobody wanted to deny a firebreathing beast and its engaged rider. Robin smiled as his gaze turned towards the landscape before them. Bridges stretched across the deep chasms between isolated pieces of land, each one covered in wyverns. Massive rocks and outcroppings dotted what little terrain there was, making perfect perches for the firebreathers. Over in the distance, a group of wyverns were surrounding… something. The sight made Robin's brow furrow. In his extensive research on wyverns trying to find a mate for Minerva, Robin had learned that wyverns weren't the most social of creatures, so a gathering of so many was a very disconcerting sight. Cherche had noticed too, as was evidenced by her approaching of Chrom. After a few brief words, Chrom drew Falchion.

"It seems this won't be as relaxing as we had hoped; bandits have invaded the valley! Robin, we'll need a strategy." Chrom looked to his tactician.

"I'll need some information first. Sumia, Cynthia; you mind scouting out for me?"

"Right. Come on, Cynthia."

"Whoo! Mother-daughter time!" The two took off into the sky, flying high enough that they wouldn't be spotted.

"Cherche, I'd like to know as much as I can before they get back. Care to indulge?"

"Gladly." Cherche began to give Robin, and the eavesdropping Morgan, every little bit of information about the valley that she knew. By the time Sumia and Cynthia returned, Robin had both a plan and a bit too much wyvern knowledge.

It was a bit more than Robin had expected. True, they were in the Wyvern Valley, but Robin hadn't expected the _bandits_ to be riding the wyverns. Admittedly, the creatures didn't seem too keen on staying with the insufferable men that had forcefully tamed them, but they were still on the enemy side. To make matters worse, Cherche demanded that they not hurt the wyverns. So, instead of being able to assault the enormous lizardy target, every single Shepherd had to aim for the smaller man riding it. It was at points like this Robin wondered how he managed to put up with these people. Due to these restrictions, Robin found himself surrounded by enormous wyverns, both them and their riders staring him down. This looked like another unwinnable situation. Everyone else was off fighting the other bandits, and Link, the one closest to him, didn't want to hurt people.

"Nowhere to run, lad!" The one Robin assumed was the leader leaned forward, axe in hand and grin on his face. "Yer out 'o weapons, out 'o friends and out 'o luck!"

"Weapons and luck is true, but I'm never out of friends."

"Har har har! Don't matter now, 'cause you're out 'o life!" He brought his axe down, and Robin closed his eyes. He waited for the inevitable pain of steel meeting shoulder, but it never came. He waited a few seconds more, just to make sure he wasn't mistaken. When there was still no pain, he cautiously opened an eye. The axe was hovering just above his face, but there was a difference to it; it was hanging limp. There was no life left in the arm that held it, so it was merely hanging in front of the tactician, propped up on the wyvern's back, who still hadn't realized that its rider had passed on. Protruding from the leader's back was a steel axe, and attached to that axe was a very strange sight. It was a masked man, dressed all in black armour, brown hair flying out behind him, a very old yet familiar wyvern beneath him.

"Move." His gruff voice barely reached Robin as he removed his axe, startling the enslaved wyvern into action. Seeing the opportunity, Robin rolled away from the bandits and towards his dropped weapons. With one swift motion, he swept up his sword and tome, managing to send a small fireball into the midst of the enemy wyvern riders. It shocked them back to reality, and the fight continued. Without a word, the masked man's axe went to work alongside Robin's sword and occasional fireball. The wyvern rider and tactician managed to be a whirlwind force, quickly cutting down the opposition. With the man's help, the battle was over in a matter of minutes. Robin, out of breath, turned and smiled at the mysterious man.

"Thanks. That was… incredible." He said between pants.

"..."

"Something wrong? Wyvern got your tongue?"

"No."

"Okay…" Robin was all too thankful when Chrom walked up to them, Shepherds in tow.

"Robin!"

"Hey, Chrom! The plan worked, then?"

"It did! The innocents can go home with only mental damage."

"That's… good?"

"Guess I could have worded that better." Chrom noticed the man behind Robin for the first time. "Robin, who's this?"

"Oh! This is… um…"

"Gerome."

"Gerome! He helped take down those bandits. You should have seen his skill! It's a shame he didn't come along sooner."

"Really?" Chrom gave the man a quick once-over, before coming to the conclusion that he usually did. "Maybe he should join the Shepherds? If he's willing."

"I cannot."

"And why is that?"

"I only came here to release my wyvern, as she is getting old and homesick. Other than that, I wish to remain alone."

"That's a shame, but I can't force you into anything. Although, I'm sure that our own wyvern rider would like to have a word with you."

"Your own rider?"

"Yes, a woman by the name of Cherche. She has quite a thing for the creatures."

"Ch-Cherche?!" The change in his demeanor was subtle, but it changed nonetheless.

"Yes. It seems you've at least heard of her. I'll go get her."

"U-um…" It was too late. Chrom had already gone to find the woman in question. Robin stood, pondering what just happened. The mention of Cherche had quite the effect on Gerome, who still seemed to be reeling. Robin was about to come to the conclusion that any reader of this story already has when his thoughts were interrupted by someone tapping on his shoulder. Link was standing just behind him, holding a piece of parchment.

"Hm? What's this?" He took it, slowly reading the simple yet horrible words.

 _The wyverns are a threat to the Conqueror's plan, and must be eliminated!_

 _I am offering 1000 gold for every wyvern killed!_

 _Bring their heads to me as proof of victory._

 _Glory to the Conqueror!_

 _-Excellus_

Robin turned to Link, beginning to crumple up the paper. As if knowing what he was going to ask, Link pointed towards the body of a nearby bandit. _So, Excellus is to blame for this. The scum. He tricked us into killing Yen'fay, and now he's going after innocent wyverns?! When I next see him, I'm gonna-_

Robin's morbid thought was interrupted by an exclamation. Apparently, Cherche had managed to come up and talk to Gerome without Robin's noticing. Maybe it was the fact that Minerva was at Frederick's side as opposed to hers.

"You mean you're…!"

"Yes. I am your son, from the future."

"No wonder you're so skilled."

"Yes, you and father were excellent teachers." The faintest of smiles spread across Gerome's face.

"Well, then you must come with us."

"I ca-"

"No arguments. You're coming with us, and you're going to help stop this war. Try to weasel out of it, and you're grounded." Gerome merely stared, unable to speak. It seems that Cherche's motherly instincts had already kicked in. "Now come on. Your father would be thrilled to speak with you." She grabbed Gerome and, apparently, future Minerva and set off to find Frederick. Just off to the side, Robin could hear a somewhat taunting voice.

"Hey, Lucy, look! It's _Gerome_."

"Sh-shush, Cynthia." Robin could only smile.

"This has been a crazy day." Robin was lying down on his and Lissa's bedroll, his wife comfortably in his arms. "Stopping a raid on a valley of _wyverns,_ meeting Cherche and Frederick's future child, finding out that Lucina may have a crush on him..." Lissa's head shot up at the mention of a crush, eyes wide and smiling. "...Probably shouldn't have said that. And discovering that the most energetic of our members just so happen to be part of their own team called the 'Justice Cabal', or whatever Owain called it."

"Yeah, I suppose it has been quite a day. Morgan and I didn't even get to see a baby wyvern." She made the best pouty face possible. "Still," her face went to one of pondering, "I wonder how many other kids are out there."

"Good point. Thinking about it, we only really know that one child is born in this timeline."

"Two." Lissa was barely audible.

"What?"

"Two." It was a bit louder this time.

"Two? Who could be pregnant? Sully doesn't look any different, Maribelle isn't married, Cherche was too surprised by Gerome to be, Panne doesn't… seem… wait…" Robin's eyes widened. "Do you mean…?"

Lissa nodded, a smile stretching across her face. "Took you long enough."

"Lissa, that's incredible! How long?!"

"A week."

"A week? Then… the Mila Tree?" Lissa's blush was all the answer he needed. "We're going to be parents! This is amazing!"

"I know! I can't wait until Chrom finds out! He'll be ecstatic!"

"You know that both him and I won't want you on the battlefield anymore, right?"

"Sorry, but you're not stopping me. I'm gonna fight alongside you until it actually shows."

"I know there's no changing your mind."

"True."

"But you have to promise to be more careful than usual."

"Yeah, okay."

"Well," Robin gave her a kiss on the forehead, "goodnight, dear." That got him a hit on the chest. She didn't like being called 'dear'.

"Goodnight, jerk." Robin sighed with a slight chuckle and closed his eyes. He was soon asleep, dreaming of what the future could hold.

 **A/N: There you have it! Another child joins the group! This chapter actually had several different versions, but this one just seemed to flow better. I may implement some of those ideas later. Anyway, as always, if you have any questions, concerns or suggestions, feel free to review or PM me. It's always nice to hear from somebody else!**


	15. Chapter 15

The Shepherds were back to their usual selves. Chrom and Sumia were having an argument about something, Cynthia and Owain were planning the Justice Cabal's return, Morgan and Nowi were chasing Link's wolf form through the thin layer of snow, Frederick and Cherche were attempting to talk to Gerome; Lucina not far behind, Vaike and Lon'qu were in some form of competition, Tiki was looking faint, Oliv- wait, what?! Robin's gaze re-focussed on the Voice of Naga, who was slowly falling over in her seat. She did take the occasional nap, but this was different.

"Tiki, are you okay?" Robin had to steady her before she fell off the convoy.

"I have been growing weak. We must reach the Divine Dragon Grounds as quickly as possible."

"Don't worry. We're almost there."

"Lady Tiki; the shrine is in visual range," Say'ri's voice called from the head of the party. "We should be there in but a few minutes."

"See?" Robin gave a cheeky smile.

They left the convoy at the edge of the forest, hidden just out of sight. The weakened Tiki was guided towards the shrine in the centre of the plain before them. Robin couldn't help but look at it in amazement. Ruined stone columns surrounded a small patch of mossy stone, everything inscribed with runes. The flat patch on the ground had very familiar circular patterns, with a triangle in the middle. It was this that Tiki stepped into.

"It will take time for me to regain full power."

"Got it. Unfortunately, I think Grima does as well. Don't worry, Tiki; we'll keep you safe."

"Thank you, Robin." She gave him a smile, and began some sort of incantation. The runes beneath her feet started to glow a vibrant green, instantly removing the moss. The light began to envelope the manakete, making her practically invisible. Robin turned his eyes away from the spectacle to survey what he had to defend. There were three entrances to the shrine; one to the east, one to the west and one to the south. Between each point was an immense drop to the ground below; it could also have been the sea. It was difficult to tell. There were also dots on the edge of each entrance, signifying the Risen's arrival.

"Robin, what should we do?"

"The way I see it, our best bet is to surround Tiki; ranged units and healers in the back, everyone else up front. We should be able to stave off any attack until Tiki is finished." Chrom nodded and went to tell the others the plan, except one. Robin pulled Link aside. "Link, as possibly our best warrior, I want you to decide what you do. You can stay back and try that bow of yours, stay up front and use your shield, or, my personal favourite, you could stay back and protect Lissa."

"Hey! I don't need his help!"

"You promised to be more careful, didn't you?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, this is just one way of doing that. Besides, it's his choice. He may not even want to stay back." Robin looked to Link, who already had his shield out.

"Aw, man!"

"Looks like it's decided. Okay, everyone in position! Walhart's almost here!" Robin turned… and saw an army. The Risen were out in droves; they weren't just dotting the landscape, they had overtaken it. "We don't have enough forces to contend with that!"

"Are we doomed?"

"Pretty much. We can still try, though. Better to die for a good cause than to live in a disaster you caused." Chrom smiled at his friend, and turned back to the battle at hand. The Risen had arrived.

Robin's prediction was right. They couldn't handle it alone. Every time a Shepherd took down one enemy, four more took his place. Every swing of Robin's sword felt useless; the onslaught of men never stopped, and Robin was growing tired. In fact, every Shepherd was growing tired. Their arms were growing weak, and their blades were dulling.

"Tiki, we can't do this much longer! Are you almost done?!" Robin turned back to see Tiki, still enveloped in green light, now with some of that glow emanating from her skin. "I'm gonna take that as a 'no'."

"Robin, we need a new plan! The old one isn't working!"

"Sorry, Chrom, this was the only plan that could have worked! There are no other non-sacrificial plays! Tiki's still-" He was interrupted by a giant rabbit. It leaped over Robin's head and careened into the oncoming enemies, briefly pausing the assault. "Thanks, Panne!"

"What are you thanking me for?" Panne was currently being healed by Maribelle, well out of the battle.

"Then who's…" Robin turned back to focus on the other taugel suddenly retreating. It looked… scared. Terrified, even. Robin thought he found the source of such fear when he heard a thunderous battle cry. He faced the Risen ahead, ready for another round of fighting, when something shoved past him. It was a fully-armoured knight, lance in hand, stabbing at the undead soldiers. Then an arrow and a blast of fire went over his shoulder and head, causing him to finally turn around. It seemed that several people had joined their ranks. A calculating mage, a crazed archer, the terrified taugel, the determined knight, a suave mercenary, another mercenary, this one sneering, a terrifying priest and a small manakete. A ragtag group to be sure, but it did feel somewhat familiar. Robin instantly began to calculate if they would be enough to turn the tide. If stationed correctly, it might work.

"Father, mighty heroes of fortune have come to rend us free of this horrid nightmare!"

"So these are more future children?"

"Indeed!"

"Alright then. This will work. Owain, grab Morgan and tell the new people the plan. She'll be able to make any necessary adjustments."

"Our victory here shall fill the history books with every breath, every mov-"

"Owain, go!"

"R-right. I'm off!"

Even with the added help, it was still a struggle. The Risen were giving it their all, continually assaulting the slowly recovering Shepherds. Now that they had more units, they were able to switch out and regroup, making them able to last much longer. In one of these respites, Robin went to see how Tiki was. The green light had almost left the shrine, her body having absorbed most of it. Her eyes, and even her clothes, were now glowing green, making Robin appreciate just how powerful the Voice of Naga really was. Suddenly, Tiki curled into a ball, remaining in the air.

"Tiki?! What's happ-" A wave of energy exploded from the Voice, pushing Robin back. It expanded out, evaporating any Risen in its way, managing to stretch across the horizon. Everyone looked to the calm Tiki with awe, who had a pleasant smile on her face.

"The ritual is finished."

"No kidding." Robin smiled back. "Before we go, I believe introductions are in order." He looked at the group of children, all standing in minor shock at the people before them. The mage opened his mouth, and was interrupted by Morgan.

"Introductions will have to wait! Look!" Several warped pillars collided with the ground, calling to life a red barrier between them as they landed. Above, a seemingly random yet oddly straight shape appeared in the sky. The center had a swirling vortex, from which several creatures fell. They landed all around the Shepherds, further enclosing the group. "Dad? What are those?"

"No idea…" Their bodies were black with glowing red markings; their faces flat, black shapes with what appeared to be dreadlocks, and their entire being reeked of intense darkness. Their lanky arms began to move towards the group of warriors, quickly closing the gap. "I have a feeling who might. Care to do the honours?" He turned to Link, who was already gone. He slashed at the monsters, almost instantly knocking them down to the ground, defeated. With lightning speed, Link was standing before the Shepherds with only two of the creatures still standing. He charged towards them, sword and claws at odds. It slashed down, slicing across the face of one, while the other jumped back. Link moved his sword over to strike it down as well, but it was too late. The living one let out an ear-bursting screech, making every single person there cover their ears, especially the two taugels. When the assault on sound ended, to the Shepherds' complete horror, every single one of the beasts stood back up. Link had a look of frustration on his face rather than one of terror. He seemed to think he needed help, as he ran up to Robin and began to make strange signals. He pointed to all the monsters with separate fingers, put his hand in front of Robin, and hit them into a fist with his other. It took a second, but Robin figured it out. "We have to kill them all at once?" A nod confirmed his suspicions. "Okay, everyone, we have to kill them simultaneously! Aim for the creatures, then attack on my command!" The Shepherds took their stances, directing their attention to the creatures rather than the one that had been defeating them. "NOW!" Fireballs, arrows, swords, lances, axes and claws all extended from the group, devouring every monster within. When the torrent had ended, the bodies of the beasts were left on the ground, motionless. A rousing roar came from the Shepherds as the creatures dissolved into the familiar black rectangles and disappeared into the sky. The barrier, along with its columns, vanished.

"Well done, Robin." Chrom gave him a very rough slap on the shoulder.

"It wasn't me. My plan wouldn't have worked if these kids didn't show up."

"Kids?"

"Oh, right. Chrom, meet more of the future children. I believe they'll be coming with us."

"More?" They both looked over to see them making introductions, giving hugs and attempting to explain the situation. "I suppose our little families are getting bigger."

"That they are. I only hope I can keep it from getting smaller."

 **A/N: Sorry that it was so quick. I would have loved to do more child introductions individually, but there was only one pairing request early on. This was the only way I could think of to introduce them, so this is what you get, along with Shadow Beasts. The opening to this is actually similar to something I wanted to use in the last chapter, but like I said, it didn't flow as well and seemed to work here. This chapter also wasn't really my favourite because I couldn't quite get out what I was imagining, but I did get the essentials. That's enough from me. As always, if you have any questions, concerns, comments or suggestions, please PM or review. I love getting feedback!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Before we begin, there's something I want to thank you guys for: over 3K views! I had no idea that this story would become so popular, and it's all thanks to you amazing readers! Okay, with that out of the way, let's begin!**

The trek practically across the continent was a long one, as expected, but it was also a good rest. It provided plenty of time for training, strategizing, learning how to be a parent, and learning all about their newest recruits. Lissa had taken it upon herself to try and find out exactly who every new child's parents were, with varying degrees of success.

Laurent, the mage, was the son of Miriel. He was always interested in learning, taking every opportunity to educate himself. Nobody could even come close to guessing who his father was because nobody could get a word in edgewise. He seemed to just disappear every now and again, making conversations very difficult.

Kjelle, the knight, was the daughter of Sully and Stahl. As collected and composed as she seemed, she instantly revealed who her father was. Nobody was all that surprised, considering how much time Sully and Stahl spent together anyway.

Inigo, the more suave mercenary, was the son of Olivia. His dancing was apparently something to behold, but only a select few had seen it. The only clue towards his other parent was his light-blue hair. His demeanor towards women was also quite the hint.

Yarne, the taugel, was Panne's son. Obviously. His timid nature was easily understandable, yet extremely annoying. He would run away from just about any attempt at conversation that somebody made at him… unless he was offered something sweet.

Brady, the priest, was the son of Maribelle and Lon'qu. Rumours of a relationship between the two Shepherds had been circulating the camp (courtesy of Lissa), and Brady's appearance essentially confirmed it. His common way of speak, despite a noble attitude, helped as well.

Noire, the archer, was the daughter of Tharja. She had quite the split personality disorder. One side of it was insanely fierce and scary, while the other was quite timid and shy. However, both of her personalities had quite the affiliation for the dark arts, and she never seemed to be afraid of any stray Risen.

Severa, the other mercenary, was the daughter of Cordelia. She had quite the snappy attitude, and was always the first one to criticize. She did seem to have a soft spot for a certain myrmidon, which made Lissa both scared and overjoyed. Severa often referred to herself as a sellsword; the only thing that came close to discerning who her father was.

Nah, the manakete, was the daughter of Nowi. Unlike her mother, Nah was very studious, preferring to read over play. She was generally quite shy around the other Shepherds, often keeping to herself and staying relatively quiet. Unless it was Ricken. She seemed to want to pester him nonstop about anything and everything.

"I'm glad you're still the princess of camp gossip, Lissa, but I don't see how any of this is important to me."

"I thought you wanted to learn more about them!"

"I do, but parental concerns aren't something I'm worried about at the moment. I'm worried as to how they'll fare against Walhart in… half an hour."

"That's no fun!"

"I know, but it is necessary. Although, given your clues, I think I have some pair-up ideas."

"See? It was helpful!"

Robin chuckled. "I suppose it was." Lissa smiled and ran off, presumably to find Maribelle and spread gossip yet again. He turned back to the map of Walhart's castle grounds, where the next battle would presumably take place. He didn't really want to know how Anna managed to get her hands on one. Ignoring the admittedly very strange ideas forming in his head, he started to mark where the scouts said the enemy was. Looking over it, Walhart had surprisingly left the middle of the field empty. _Not the best strategy; unless he has a hidden weapon._

"So, Robin, any ideas yet?" He turned and saw the short blue hair of his friend.

"A few. I wouldn't mind your opinion on them."

Chrom gave a huge grin. "My, has the strategist of the Ylissean army hit the proverbial wall?"

"Do you want to help? If not, I can always send you in by yourself."

"Alright, alright. So, what were your ideas?" Robin returned the smile, and the two set to work.

It seemed Walhart had got wind of their arrival. He was standing in front of the wall that protected his home, looking down on the Shepherds.

"Turn back, prince! You have no idea the forces you are attempting to oppose!"

"Think again, Conqueror! We know the monster we face, and we have a few tricks for him!"

"You're not the only one." Walhart raised an enormous gauntlet, and gave some kind of signal. A roar that almost shattered the Shepherds' eardrums echoed across the field, filling Robin's mind with doubt about their plan. From behind the wall Walhart stood in front of, a pair of armoured wings began to rise. Their beat made the armour of Walhart's forces rattle, and sent a shiver down the spines of everyone there. Walhart grinned as the rest of the beast rose above the wall. Now Robin knew why the middle of the field was empty of Walhart's forces. It was so the gigantic armoured dragon had room to fight. Every flap of its red wings brought it closer to the Shepherds, black armour making it all the more intimidating. Once again, it let out an ear-rending screech, making Robin almost regret the decision to assault Walhart so soon. It was then he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned and saw Link, that same determined look in his eyes that appeared every time there was an enemy that was, presumably, from where he was from. He pointed a finger at himself, then up to the sky.

"You need to get higher?" A nod affirmed his assumption. "Okay. Tiki, Link knows how to beat that dragon. Can you help?"

"I shall do my best." In a brilliant flash of light, the woman turned into a large green dragon. She leaned down, and Link promptly hopped on. The two took off towards the bigger, armoured dragon, and Robin set his eyes back on the rest of the battlefield.

"Our plan should still work. With Link and Tiki distracting it, the unexpected dragon shouldn't be too much of a problem."

"Right. Shepherds! Like we discussed!" Each team set off to their specified positions. Robin and Chrom headed across the middle of the field, Walhart as their goal. As they reached the first of the Conqueror's guard, the earth shook. The tactician and Exalt turned around to see the massive dragon lying on the ground, some of the armour falling off. Attached to its tail was Link, holding his strange chain shooters, one of them grabbing the tail, and in metal boots. He quickly let go, and motioned to Tiki, who picked him up again. Walhart's beast slowly stood up, giving off another roar. It once again took to the skies, spewing breaths of fire at whatever was closest. Robin turned back to the guards at hand, and got an axe in the shoulder. Fortunately, he managed to move enough so that it wasn't too bad of an injury, but it still hurt.

"Ouch!"

"Robin, are you okay?" Chrom slashed through the guard, ending his breath.

"Yeah, I'm fine. We need to focus on Walhart." Chrom gave him a worried look, but continued to fight Walhart's guard anyway. As they fought towards the Conqueror, another tremble made everyone go off-balance. "Link strikes again." Robin fought on, ignoring the pain in his arm. Just before they reached Walhart, the ground shook for a third time. Able to ignore it, they strode up to the Conqueror.

"Your reign ends here, Walhart!"

"You impress me, princeling. I didn't expect you to deal with my dragon so easily." He made a nonchalant wave towards the monster, now devoid of armour, having a duel of fire with Tiki. "That is a fine warrior atop that dragon. The only one I see here."

"Stop now, Walhart! If you don't surrender, I'll prove just how much of a warrior I am!"

"How amusing. The prince and the tactician wish to challenge me. Come, then! Fight with all your strength! I will show you why they call me the Conqueror!" He swung his weapon, an intimidatingly deformed axe, at the two of them. They swiftly moved out of its deadly reach, and attempted to return the attack. Walhart drew his axe back up, deflecting it. Both sides clashed, a flurry of hits and misses, most of the collisions happening between weapons. Sparks flew with every strike; every movement was accompanied with a grunt of effort; every breath was steady and measured; equal forces, neither side giving an inch. The only actual hits the tactician and the prince managed to get on Walhart were scratches, until they were interrupted yet again by the red dragon. It had let out a fearsome screech, distracting the three combatants. They looked to the sky and saw it writhing in pain, a small green shape rapidly swinging a piece of metal that glinted against the dying sun. With each slash of the sword, it let out the same horrific screech that pierced everyone's eardrums. Robin was slightly surprised that he could hear Walhart chuckle at the situation… and that he could still hear.

"Something funny, Conqueror?"

"You send your best warrior to dispose of a mediocre dragon, but only two worms to oppose me? Your tactical prowess is over-exaggerated."

"I wouldn't be so sure."

"What are you- Gah!" Falchion's blood-stained tip protruded from Walhart's shoulder, its wielder sporting a somewhat disturbing grin. He withdrew the legendary blade and watched the Conqueror grasp his punctured shoulder.

"Problem, Walhart? Did I manage to stab your ego? It was the biggest target." Walhart gave a guttural growl and raised the axe in his other hand, preparing to strike down the smug exalt. His swing was stopped for a final time as an all-too familiar roar echoed across the field, turning the head of everyone present. The red dragon was falling to the ground, Link on its back and Tiki flying triumphantly overtop of it. It hit the ground with enough force to create a dragon-shaped crater, making the armour of every soldier rattle. It gave one final squirm then became still, with Link pulling his sword from the dying jewel on its back. He jumped off the monster, sheathing his sword. It disintegrated into black rectangles, and disappeared into the evening sky. Robin, now sporting the smug smile that Chrom had on only minutes ago, turned back to face his adversary, who wasn't there. Robin's smile instantly left his face as he frantically glanced around, looking for wherever Walhart could have gone. Chrom had also just noticed, and only shrugged his shoulders at the tactician.

"Damn it! Walhart got away!"

"Don't worry; he's wounded. I made sure of that. He won't be doing much for some time; at least for tonight."

"That still doesn't mean it's time to celebrate." He gestured towards the group of Shepherds, who were toting Link on their shoulders and shouting his name.

"I thought Lissa would have trained you better by now. Lighten up a little, would you?" Chrom gave him a smile, and went to join the merry band of warriors. Robin couldn't help but feel a little bit of anger at the bluenette. Yes, he probably did need to loosen up a bit, but that didn't change the fact that Walhart had gotten away, and would be all the more ready for them the next day. The next battle would not be an easy one.

 **A/N: Sorry this took longer than usual! There were a few intrusive things that happened, and I couldn't write as much as I wanted to. That aside, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and are looking forward to the next one; some exciting things are going to happen. As always, if you have any questions, comments, concerns or suggestions, please review or PM. Everything you say will help!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Previous Boss: Argorok, the armoured dragon from the City in the Sky**

"So, you wish to challenge me yet again, prince? And in my own house? How brave."

"You won't escape this time, Walhart! You couldn't fit a dragon in here no matter how hard you tried!"

"True enough, but I don't need a dragon to finish you off, boy! I only need this!" Walhart held up one enormous gauntlet, clenching it. "But your little band of mercenaries get something special!" With a small movement, Walhart summoned a figure up through the ground. It was a light blue, seemingly fading in and out of existence. It hovered just above the carpet it had risen through, staring down the Shepherds before it. Then, without warning, it vanished with a sound not dissimilar to one of Robin's weakest Thunder tomes.

"Looks like your 'help' has run."

"Look again." The entire band of warriors saw an intensifying red light coming from behind them. Every head swiftly turned to face the same shape, this time levitating a ball of red and black energy above its head. The enormous sphere shot out and stopped above the Shepherds before morphing into a warped version of the portal that had brought the black beasts at the Divine Dragon grounds. From the portal spewed forth a collection of darkened monsters; several plants alighted on the ground, and black bats took to the skies. Every Shepherd leapt in surprise as the plants began to snap at their legs, and the bats dove at them. Walhart gave a smirk at the squirming Shepherds, almost radiating pride despite his defeat at their hands the day before.

"Link, any hints?!" The boy gave Robin a somewhat exasperated look, and proceeded to slash one of the bats from the air, which exploded into a mass of black rectangles. He then looked back at Robin with somewhat of a smile. "Really? We just hit them?" Link nodded. "Okay then. Shepherds! Plan stays the same; just be more careful. Let's end this!" An enormous battle cry rang out from the group of warriors, and everyone went into action. The sounds of weapons striking flesh and plant matter echoed around the vast chamber as the squadron of fighters made their way to where the tyrannical Conqueror was smugly sitting. Robin had his eyes trained on the man in red until about halfway up the middle of the room. Cutting down a soldier that was in front of him he charged forward, and slammed into a blue figure. It was the ghostly person, once again beginning to charge up the red orb of intense power. Slightly dazed from the impact, Robin barely had time to register what was happening before a green blur appeared before him, wildly slashing at the distorted figure before him until it disappeared with the same unsettling sound it had made previously. It then dashed off again, this time to deal with a large amount of plants that had surrounded some of the other Shepherds.

"Robin, are you alright?" Chrom's familiar voice brought Robin back to the fight at hand.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Once again, our boy in green managed to save me."

"Now I'm really glad we decided to trust him," the exalt chuckled. "All that stands between us and Walhart is Excellus. Shall we?"

"Actually, no."

"No?!"

"Excellus is Say'ri's fight. She deserves a chance to avenge her brother."

"I suppose you're right. Well then, how do you propose we get past them?"

"Wait thirty seconds."

"Um… okay." So, for the next thirty seconds, they simply sat and surveyed the battle. Robin's side of the family, being Owain, Lissa and Morgan, were getting close to where the prince and Exalt stood. Frederick, Cherche, Lon'qu, Maribelle and Vaike were all finishing off the soldiers Chrom and Robin had left behind. To the duo's right was Miriel, Laurent, Cordelia, Severa and…

"Right on cue." Robin saw Say'ri running over to Excellus, taking the mage completely by surprise. The pair toppled out of the way, leaving just enough of an opening for Robin and Chrom to get through. "Let's go!" They charged through the opening, swords drawn and aimed at Walhart. The Conqueror was unmoving, aware of the threat but not in the least bit concerned; and with good reason. Unnoticed by Robin and Chrom, a barrier composed of dark energy had been placed before them, similar to the one used at the Divine Dragon Grounds. The two ran straight into it, bouncing back a foot or two.

""Coward! Standing back from battle, hiding behind an invisible shield!" Chrom repeatedly hit the shield with Falchion's pommel, sending lines of red energy coursing down the barrier.

"Chrom, that won't do any good." Robin attempted to hold the enraged Exalt back as Walhart gave them a smile from behind his barrier. "We have to destroy whatever's making this wall; then we can go after Walhart." Chrom shakily lowered Falchion and turned his attention to Robin with a sigh.

"You're right. The problem with that is that we have no idea what's causing it."

"Actually, I might have one." Robin turned his head to look at the teleporting blue figure.

"Of course." Chrom gave an exasperated sigh. "It figures that the one thing preventing us from reaching Walhart is a teleporting ghost that controls dark magic."

"Don't worry too much, O whining one. Everyone else has already been attacking it whenever the opportunity arose. It should only take a few more hits."

"Right." Chrom gave a brief pause before giving a joking glare at Robin. "You know, just because we're related now doesn't mean that you can insult me." Robin shrugged.

"The issue of being related never stopped me before," he smiled. Chrom did the same, and the two began to move back into the thick of the battle. The ghostly figure was teleporting everywhere, only getting hit when it appeared carelessly. Eventually, it stopped and began to charge another ball of dark energy. Quickly, Robin and Chrom moved towards it, both of them managing to slice it through the torso. The hit seemed to have worked due to the thing's reaction, and it disappeared once more.

"Did that work?"

"No, the barrier's still up. It's around here somewhere." Robin scanned the room for signs of the blue figure, and came up with nothing. _It must be on the other side of the wall…_ As if hearing his thoughts, the top of a ball of energy appeared from behind the wall. "There!" The two raced towards the entrance to the hallway, but before they even got close, the ball of energy vanished yet again. The two stopped and stared, slightly bemused. They hadn't sent anybody over there. From the entrance came Link, who nonchalantly waved at Robin and Chrom. "I guess that works."

"Now I'm really glad we recruited that boy."

"No kidding." Robin watched Link run off to go help Cordelia, who was having a bit of trouble with some archers. "That kid is a powerhouse." Just as Chrom was about to make a comment, the blue figure appeared not far from them. Without a word to each other, the two charged towards it intent on stopping the next ball of dark energy. They managed to reach it, but not before it launched the ball into the air. Robin stunned the thing with his thunder, and Chrom sliced at the paralyzed entity. The blue shape convulsed, then hung its head.

"This won't be the last time…" it whispered in an echoey voice before slowly fading away. Robin quickly looked at where the barrier was to see it dissolve into black rectangles. He looked back at Chrom, who had also noticed the barrier's disappearance. They nodded to each other, and ran towards Walhart once more. To their chagrin, another wall blocked their way; only this time it was made of fire. Several Valmese mages had managed to escape the Shepherds, and were focussing all their energy on the two royals. With a sigh and eye-roll each, they assaulted the minor forces. The only problem was that they were tired from running around the castle and battling so many others while the mages had only just joined the fray. The magic-wielders easily dodged and countered just about every blow Chrom and Robin managed to get off. Cuts, bruises, and wounds that would eventually scar began to cover them both, exhausting them further. Just when it seemed like they would never get past these mages, a healing light fell over the two. Out of the corner of his eye, Robin saw Lissa holding her staff above her head as it emitted a green glow. As soon as the glow stopped, she dashed off… in the direction of Walhart. Robin's fear and recent healing allowed him to push back the mages and find an opening. When he did, one look at the rejuvenated Chrom told him that he could leave the Exalt be; the guy was probably enjoying himself at the moment. With only a point towards the Conqueror, Chrom understood and helped Robin get through. They led a fearsome attack against the line of mages, splitting the group down the middle. A final mage stood in the way, something Robin had accounted for, and tried to stop the two in their tracks. He half-succeeded. Chrom charged ahead of Robin, distracting the mage just long enough for Robin to get past. As he darted down the room towards the gap that would lead him to the Conqueror, his mind became a complete mess. _Lissa's gotten better, but she can't compete with Walhart! Even if she took someone like Lon'qu along with her, there's no way the two could get out unscathed! Chrom and I wouldn't even dare taking the risk; the plan was to lure him out into the open! Gods, what am I going to find when I get there?_ That question was answered all too soon.

Robin arrived just in time to see Lissa get thrown against a wall and fall down, unconscious. Not too far off was the prone form of Morgan, who was groaning in pain. At Walhart's feet was Owain, barely managing to stay on his knees. Walhart raised his menacing red axe to cleave Robin's son in half when Robin finally spoke up, allowing Owain to crawl off to the side.

"What do you think you're doing?!"

"Ha-ha. Me? I'm killing the pathetic soldiers you sent to face me. It seems you've run out of ideas, tactician."

"Not yet." Robin fired a small Thunder at Walhart, who practically batted the spell aside. The Conqueror stepped forward and slashed at where Robin was standing. The tactician was nearly crushed by the immense axe as he dodged to the side, looking back at the cracked stone beneath the red giant's weapon. He started rapidly throwing Thunder spells at the monster of a man, getting reactions that varied from 'was that a fly' to 'that almost hurt'. Somewhere between the axe swings and bolts of electricity going back and forth, another sword flashed.

"You shall not lay a hand on my father, foul demon!" Owain's sword found a weak point on Walhart's shoulder, and dove. The man in red let out a fearsome cry of pain as he threw off the myrmidon, who landed against the opposite wall and didn't stir. Walhart pulled the sword out of his shoulder and turned back to Robin, who was now emanating fury. Walhart hesitated.

"Do you like literature, Conqueror?" Robin's tone was eerily calm and quiet. "Because I have a poem for you." Electricity began to spark between the tactician's fingers.

"This is the law of the jungle,

As old and as true as the sky;

The one who shall keep it may prosper,

But the one who hurts my family… must DIE!" With the last word, Robin let a ferocious shot of electricity envelop Walhart, who gave a scream of agony. When the dust settled and his vision became normal once more, he saw Walhart lying before him, sparking slightly. Robin looked down at his hand, which was back to its regular self. _A Thoron with a Thunder tome? How did I…_ a movement caught his eye. Walhart had weakly raised his head, and was staring intently at Robin.

"You… have bested… me. It seems… my rule… was not to be…" Walhart let out his final breath, and lay motionless on the floor. The Conqueror was defeated. The battle wasn't over, however. Across the room, Say'ri was still fighting Excellus, and he was winning. Say'ri had her back to the wall; literally, as Excellus cackled wildly at her struggling form.

"Did you and Yen'fay have a pleasant reunion; or rather, did you two have a pleasant parting? Ha ha-ha-ha-ha!"

"You monster! What did our people ever do to you?!"

"It's not what you did, it's what you might do! Everything has to be in place in order for Lord Ganondorf to make this world his own! That's why I had to get rid of those pesky wyverns!"

"It wasn't Walhart's desire; you just wanted them dead!"

"Indeed! And that's exactly what you're about to become!" Excellus raised his hand above his head, creating a ball of fire. "Goodbye!" Excellus' arm came down, and Say'ri closed her eyes, prepared for the inevitable… which never came. She opened her eyes, and gasped to see the tip of a sword protruding from Excellus' chest. The sword was removed from the newly-made corpse, and Excellus' body fell to the ground. On the other side stood Link, the end of his sword coated in a thin layer of blood.

"Thank you, brave warrior." Link didn't move. He was stood, stock still, staring down at Excellus' deceased body. "Are you alright?" Nothing. Say'ri uneasily surveyed the rest of the room, not seeing any sign of remaining enemies. They had taken Walhart's castle. Just before she could ask Link what was wrong, he ran off, and she was left wondering what had just happened.

Robin saw it all. He saw what Link had just done, and was about to go help, when he heard Lissa waking up.

"Ugh… where's the horse that hit me?"

"Lissa!" Robin ran over to her and gave her a hug. "I was worried!"

"Hey, mister, that's my job! Also, this hurts. Would you mind…?"

"Oh! Sorry." Robin let go of her.

"What happened to Walhart?"

"Well, he hurt all of you, so I hurt him back. Mine worked better."

"All of us? Morgan! Owain!" She ran over to Morgan, who was also just waking up, and Robin went over to check on Owain. Robin managed to get Owain to hobble over while leaning on his father's shoulder so that Lissa could heal the two children. Meanwhile, Robin was going over what just happened to Link in his mind. A man who was silently sworn never to kill had just done so. It cannot be good for the psyche.

"Robin! I need your mind!" Chrom called to the tactician from across the room. Robin looked down to Lissa, who urged him to go and talk. Robin stood and walked, still in somewhat of a daze, over to where the Exalt stood. "Okay. Say'ri, tell us what you found."

"Aye. I located one of the Fire Emblem's gems. It seems Walhart was keeping one for himself."

"Excellent. This means that only one gem remains."

"If I may, there was something else. Before the monster, Excellus, died, he told me that he was serving under someone named Ganondorf. Does this mean anything to anyone?"

"No, but it would probably be best to keep that in the back of our minds. Now, in order to stop Grima, we have to…" Robin didn't really pay attention to the rest of the conversation. He was occupied with thoughts of how Link was, and why he was able to create a Thoron with only a Thunder tome. He attributed the latter to Grima's resurgence in power. Link was a separate matter.

Robin found Link sitting at the nearby river, staring intently down at the horseshoe necklace he wore. He was so focussed on a point not quite where the necklace was that he didn't seem to notice when Robin sat down beside him. They sat by each other in silence for a little while, Link staring at the necklace and Robin staring at the sky. Eventually, Robin thought of what to say.

"I can't claim to know what you're going through; killing has never been a problem for me. I'm not sure if that's a bad thing or not, but it makes it easier." He looked over at the green warrior, who was still clutching the necklace. "That's not to say it doesn't affect me. I can remember every life I've taken; every day, I wonder what happened to their families and how that person's death affects them. You're lucky; you only have the burden of killing a monster without family, while I have hundreds of deaths on my head." Link moved slightly, but nothing more. "Obviously, I'm not the best therapist, but I do understand. This is something that's weighing on your mind, and it may affect your choices in the future, but it might not be a bad thing. Excellus was horrible, and probably would have killed Say'ri and teleported off if you hadn't stopped him. If he was still alive, he would be terrorizing the people of this place further, and helping the guy he was serving under gain power." Link finally looked up from the horseshoe, eyes watering. "Look, sometimes we have to sacrifice our own beliefs in order to help other people. Fight for the needs of the many, not the needs of the few. If this 'Ilia' was here, I'm sure she'd say the same thing. From what I've discerned, she seems like a good person." Robin stood up. "Look, this will definitely take time to get over, but it will get better. Don't worry; you're still a good person, Link. You're still the hero that we need." Robin turned and walked back to camp, pausing to give one final remark to the saddened hero. "You're also the friend we all want to help."

 **A/N: I am SO sorry, guys! So many things got in the way of me being able to write this chapter, and it didn't help that I wasn't really feeling the beginning of it. Looking back, it's not so bad. Unfortunately, updates are going to be really infrequent because of a sudden lack of ideas on my end. I feel really bad about it, but there's not much I can do. Oh, and special thanks to Mew29240 for the idea of how to use Excellus in this chapter. So, if you have any ideas, questions, concerns or comments, please review or PM. Again, really sorry about the huge delay. Write to you next time!**

 **P.S: I have also been writing another story that I'm unsure as to whether or not I want to release it, so you may see that crop up on my profile at some point. If you're really interested, PM me and ask about it. I'll gladly answer your questions on both this story and the hidden one!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Previous Mini-Boss: Phantom Zant, the holographic annoyance from the Twilight Realm**

The trip back was a long one. In addition to having the stress of facing Plegia once again in order to claim the last gemstone, Robin also had to contend with being somewhat of a psychiatrist for Link, making up strategies for any future battles, and he was constantly looking over Lissa, who was quite visible now. Thankfully, Chrom was kind enough to tone down Robin's tactician duties a bit, but it was still a long month back.

The therapy wasn't really working. Link's mood had improved; he managed to walk about the camp, but that seemed like all he was capable of doing. He refused every single chance to spar with someone; even Owain, his favourite sparring buddy, was denied a practice fight. Thankfully, everyone else was willing to help him as well. They all smiled at him and complimented him every time he walked by. Eventually, he became willing to participate in Risen battles again, though he was hesitant to strike any of them with his sword. His shield still provided immaculate defense, so he wasn't a hindrance. Though it was difficult to think of what he would do once they reached Plegia Castle. They hadn't been in a fight with humans since Excellus' death, so there was no way of knowing what he could do during another fight with them.

"So, Dad;" he was snapped out of his thoughts by Morgan, "what's the plan?"

"Well, I'm highly suspicious of Validar's intentions. Just giving over the gemstone? Not exactly something that's likely to happen."

"So you've got a way out, right?"

"Well, if worse comes to worse, we go with the Defensive Retreat strategy."

"Okay, what if they're expecting that?"

"Plan B."

"And what if one of those monsters from Link's home shows up? Plan B doesn't account for that."

"More than likely, we'll have to go with Plan H. If that doesn't work, I'll think of something."

"Plan H? I don't remember that one."

"You should; it's the easiest one. Form up and hit it 'til it dies."

"Oh, you mean the last resort."

"That's the one."

"If you two are all set, we're here." Robin looked to where Chrom was pointing, and saw the castle before them. It wasn't as grand as Ylisstol castle, but it still made for an intimidating image. It was the colour of sand, its menacing spires spiraling up to just beneath the cloud layer. Its dark colours gave the perfect feeling of foreboding that Robin had been expecting. This would not be easy.

On their way to the throne room, tension ran high. Everyone was watching the corner of their eyes, catching glimpses of hidden soldiers between the sand-coloured pillars. Chrom, Robin, Lucina and Frederick were the only ones allowed in the throne room (well, Lucina demanded that she go with, and nobody wanted to argue), while everyone else stood guard. Good idea, considering what happened next.

"Greetings, prince." A familiar, despicable voice called out to them. "What brings you to our humble castle?"

"I have come to claim part of the Emblem."

"My, my. Straight to the point. Why the rush?"

"Enough games, Validar! We need the gemstone to stop Grima; or did you want the world to fall into ruin?"

"Yes."

"What?"

"Hand it over! Give me the Fire Emblem, and you may leave with your lives!"

"My father will never give you the Emblem!"

"Silence, intruder! You have no say here!"

"What?"

"You do not belong in this world, and neither does that green-clad fool!"

"How do you know of him?"

"Because I told him." A booming voice without an owner echoed around the throne room. "That green kid is a thorn in my side; well, he was."

"Who are you?!"

"I am Ganondorf, your new ruler."

"Are you mad?! If you ally yourself with Grima, there won't be anything left to rule!"

"Grima has agreed to leave something to rule if I coat the land in Twilight. And once I have claimed this world, I shall retake my own!"

"I think it's time to go!" Robin heard the beginning sounds of a battle just outside the door, signifying that their time was up. He practically pushed them out of the room and into the fray that awaited. Morgan, true to her word, was giving out commands to ensure the Shepherds' safety. It wasn't exactly what Robin would have done, but it worked. "Defense formation! We're leaving!" The Shepherds instantly moved; Kellam and Kjelle forming a small wall up front protected from behind by Laurent and Miriel. To either side, Frederick and Sully ensured that the mages didn't get hit by any stray enemies, and Cordelia and Cherche covered them from the air. All the other Shepherds, bar two, were at the back, protecting the front and middle as best they could. The two left out were Link and Lissa. Robin had taken one look at the terrified eyes of the green warrior, and decided it best that he was out of the fight as much as possible. In this formation, they began to move their way to the door. The resulting trip was ordered chaos. The opposition they faced seemed to be the Grimleal, worshippers of the Fell Dragon, and they weren't in short supply. Every time the group turned, they managed to find another horde of the Grima-devoted psychopaths. This turned the quick escape into an exhausting battle. Cuts, scratches and burns from the mages were earned on their way across the expansive marble floor towards the double doors that led out, now guarded by what Robin assumed was the commander.

"Focus all fire on that one! We stop him, they scatter!" Robin immediately fired a bolt of lightning at the man, who deflected most of the impact with his axe. Still, having electricity run down your weapon has to hurt. The shot was followed by a rush of wind as Gerome shot past, headed directly for the guy. His axe felled any other Grima worshippers as he shot by, while also earning a few more unnoticed scratches. The commander readied his axe with an arrogant smile, clearly unaware of the fearsome opposition he faced. Gerome's axe swept down as the man dodged, creating a small dust cloud. Then the reason the man seemed quite unaffected by the bolt of lightning reared its head. He pointed the axe towards Gerome and unleashed lightning of his own. Thankfully, Gerome just pulled his axe out of the ground, and was flung back a little bit by the force, so he missed being turned into a lightning rod by a hair's breadth. The man's smile had dimmed, but it was still an overconfident look. Gerome turned and flew up high, a plan in his head. The commander began to throw shot after shot at the Wyvern Rider, who barely avoided them every time. When he reached the ceiling, Minerva dove. The commander began to panic and flailed his axe around, now completely missing his target. His shots hit some of the other soldiers, clearing more of a path for the Shepherds. He locked eyes with Minerva, then turned and ran. The wyvern adjusted its angle, and landed directly in front of the man. He fell to the ground, holding his axe in front of himself in an awful attempt at self-preservation. Then an axe went through his vision. Gerome, evidently, hadn't been on Minerva when she decided to take to the ceiling. He withdrew his axe from the man's head, and gave the wyvern a pat on the snout.

"Excellent job, Minerva." She gave what was most likely a contented growl. The two watched the remaining Grimleal run in fear of the beast.

"Well done, you two." Robin ran up and gave Gerome a pat on the back. He didn't want to risk getting too close to Minerva, so he settled with smiling at her. "I think that earns you a reward." Robin bent down and picked up the axe the commander had. "A bolt axe. It works at both close-quarters and from afar. Should come in handy." He gave the weapon to Gerome, and began to move towards the door, but not before whispering "And it may impress Lucina if you can wield it," right into the boy's ear. Gerome gave him a shocked expression, but took the axe. "Everybody out!" He waved them all to the door, and the troop ran.

"Well, you got us out." Chrom ran beside Robin, headed towards freedom.

"Not quite." In a flash of purple, Validar appeared before the two of them. "Hand over the Emblem, Princeling!"

"You'll have to pry it from my cold, dead hands, sorcerer!"

"That could be arranged, but it would be much easier if I didn't have to touch it at all."

"What do you-"

"Robin! Take the Emblem from him!" A searing pain shot through Robin's head, and his legs began to move on their own. Grasping his head, he watched as his body slowly turned to Chrom and knocked the Exalt to the ground. His arms reached out and took the Emblem from its rightful owner, then threw the object to Validar. Without hesitation, Validar placed his gem into the final slot on the precious piece of metal and vanished. The pain left Robin's body, and he collapsed onto his knees.

"Robin; are you alright?"

"I'm sorry, Chrom; it's all my fault."

"Come on; let's get out of here." The Exalt pulled Robin off the floor, and they dejectedly ran out of the castle, their heads full of despair and their hearts filled with regret.

That evening found Robin staring out at the sunset, trying to think of what happened. It wasn't his fault, he knew that; but he wasn't without blame. If he hadn't been there, then Validar couldn't have controlled him, and they might still have the Emblem.

"Uncle?" A voice snapped him out of his rather depressing thoughts. "May I have a word?" He turned and smiled at Lucina.

"Always happy to talk with my niece."

"I wish to discuss the future with you."

"... I see."

"In my time, as you know, the Shepherds have all been killed by Grima; my father included. His death was what finalized Grima's total reign over the world."

"Okay…?"

"Nobody really knew how he died, but there were rumours. Most of them said that he was killed by his best friend, and I did not see how that could be the answer. I have seen how close the two of you are, and I thought that nothing would drive you to killing your brother-in-law."

"Uh-huh…" Robin was beginning to see where she was going with this.

"But today, I witnessed something that proves who killed my father. Validar must have seized control of your mind and made you kill him." Lucina withdrew her Falchion, making Robin jump slightly. "I'm sorry, Uncle, but I have to do this!"

"Lucina, have you thought this through?!"

"There isn't any other way!" Tears began to run down the blue-haired woman's face. "I wish I didn't have to, but I must! For our future to survive, you have to die!" Robin bowed his head, silently thinking.

"Okay."

"What?"

"Okay. You're right. I've been thinking about it too, and I can't see any other way." Robin looked back up at Lucina and spread his arms, smiling. "If my death is what it takes to ensure everyone else lives, then so be it."

"I'm so sorry, Uncle."

"Don't be; it isn't your fault." Robin closed his eyes, prepared for the feel of Falchion's blade in his heart. Lucina lunged forward, both hair and tears flying out behind her. Then her sword bounced. Standing between Robin and his niece was Link, shield placed between Falchion and Robin. The tactician opened his eyes to see Link's sad eyes staring up at him intently, trying to convey something.

"ENOUGH!" Chrom raced towards the three of them, possibly the angriest he had ever been. "Is your little experiment over?"

"Father?"

"Lucina, what on Earth were you thinking?"

"But, in the future, he-"

"I know; you're not the only one who can eavesdrop. He may have killed me in your future, but this one is yet to be decided. Do you not trust in our friendships? Do you not trust in your own Uncle?"

"Well…"

"Lucina, this future is not the one you came from. We can change this; we will change it. Together. Killing Robin won't solve anything; without his skill, we wouldn't be able to fight our way to Grima, and the world would still lose."

"I… But…" She gave a deep sigh. "You're right. I have to trust in the bonds we share. I'm sorry, Uncle. I hope you can forgive me."

"There's nothing to forgive." Robin looked back at Link, who was now staring intently at the ground. "You were only doing what you thought best; what would protect as many lives as possible. It's me that needs to be forgiven."

"You?"

"I was being a hypocrite. On our journey back, I was teaching Link that just because something bad happens, it isn't the end. You have to keep going for those who care about you, for those who look to you for help. There's always another way."

"He's not wrong."

"I understand now. We have to keep going for those who depend on us."

"That's basically my point, yeah. Plus, if I'm gone, who's going to teach my kids how to pull amazing pranks?" Everyone, Link excluded, gave a chuckle.

"Come on; let's get you back to camp." Chrom put his arm on Lucina's shoulder and gestured to Robin. The tactician gave Link a pat on the back, and the four began to move back to camp.

"Who knew someone so quiet could say so much?" Robin muttered under his breath as they walked. Link must have heard, because he tilted his head up, now giving a slight smile for the first time in a long time.

 **A/N: Events are moving forward! The actual 'stopping Grima' story of the game has finally come to play a big role in this story, and I couldn't be more excited. I hope you guys are feeling the same way. Oh, and there's a reference to something in this chapter; tell me if you got it! If you enjoyed; or didn't, I can take criticism, please feel free to put any suggestions, comments, concerns or questions in a review or PM. Anything you have to say is always appreciated!**


	19. Chapter 19

This was quite the sight. Hundreds of people were slowly walking towards some unseen destination in a trance-like state. Robin and various other Shepherds were making an attempt at stopping them, but they just kept walking. Eventually, Lissa managed to speak to one of them.

"Hey, excuse me! Excuse me, mister! Um… where are all of you going?"

"Grima… Calling…" And the man continued on his extremely creepy way.

"What was that about?"

"Well," Chrom looked in the man's direction, "if I had to guess, I'd say that Validar is close to summoning Grima."

"That can't be good."

"No; we need to hurry. Robin! Where did those scouts say Validar ran off to?"

"Someplace called the 'Dragon's Table'? Doesn't sound too inviting."

"Lead the way. The longer we gawk at these people, the longer the world is in peril."

"Couldn't have said it better myself. According to the map, it's this way." Robin began walking, and noticed he was following the entranced citizens. "Definitely not good."

That assumption was right. When the group arrived at the massive altar that was the Dragon's Table, Aversa was waiting for them. She had several tough-looking Risen with her, spread out amongst the sand before the temple that seemed larger than Plegia's castle. They all had different outfits on, and all carried specially-designed weapons.

"Deadlords…" Chrom whispered under his breath, hand on Falchion.

"Deadlords?"

"They were once heroes and warriors; legends of their time. Grima has managed to resurrect them, and has forcefully made them join his side. Now they stop at nothing to protect their wretched master."

"Lovely. Now not only do we have to fight Validar's right hand, we have to defeat heroes." At that moment, the familiar form of Validar exited the temple, a glint of metal under one of his arms. He gave inaudible instructions to Aversa, then turned to leave. Just before he could, however, Chrom yelled across to the two.

"Validar! Why have all these people gathered? What is happening?!"

"Curious one, aren't you? Grima is close to reviving, and these loyal followers have come to witness it! Once the sacrifice is in place, the Fell Dragon shall once again roam the Earth!"

"Sacrifice?"

"This place is called 'The Dragon's Table' for a reason; this is where Grima comes to feed!"

"You heartless-"

"Enough chat! I must see to the ritual. Aversa! Take care of these pests!"

"As you command, Validar." With that, Validar sauntered back into the massive stone temple, leaving Aversa smiling wickedly at the Shepherds. "You won't get past me; your pitiful crusade ends here! Now!" The band of warriors readied their stances, prepared for a fight… and were immediately knocked out of them by the ground itself. The sand between the Deadlords and the Shepherds had begun to shift, creating small tremors in the ground. Robin managed to steady himself just enough in order to see what was happening. He gasped.

From the middle of the field, an enormous hill of sand was forming. As it got higher and higher, the sand began to slowly fall off of it, revealing a white shape underneath. As it grew in size and diminished in sand, the bony structure beneath was revealed. It was a massive skeleton, sporting red eyes, demonic horns and terrifyingly large hands. When its top half had fully emerged, it gave out a roar that nearly deafened all those present. Interestingly, it seemed that the skeleton had also brought with it a small, circular area that defined the limit of its arms' reach. It was a towering presence that had every Shepherd quaking in their boots. All except one. From out of seemingly nowhere, Link appeared beside Robin. It seemed that the appearance of this horrendous monster had turned him from saddened soldier back to determined warrior. Although, he didn't look quite the same; his eyes were almost glazed over, as if he was only acting on instinct, and his stance was much more rigid than it used to be. Before Robin could even make an attempt at asking him what was going on, Link charged forward.

"Well, at least he's doing something." It looked as if the Deadlords had also begun to move, and were headed straight for the green warrior, who didn't seem to notice. "Impulsive little… alright. Everyone! Move out! We have to get rid of those Deadlords!" A rallying cry came from the Shepherds, and the ground began to rumble once more, now caused by the feet of the Shepherds.

"What the-?!" Chrom was pointing towards Link, who had just reached into his pouch and pulled out what looked like an enormous top. He threw it onto the ground, it immediately started spinning, and he jumped on top of it. It moved at a fast pace, headed straight for the enormous bony enemy. When he reached the interior edge of the pit around the monster, the spinning top started following the rim, circling the monster. Robin was mesmerized by the sight… until it breathed fire at him. Without realizing it, he had managed to wander close to the edge of the ring, and was about to pay the price. He moved out of the way, but the end of his coat got burned.

"That was close." He turned attention to the battle he was actually a part of, and found himself face-to-face with a Deadlord. It swung down with its legendary weapon, cutting through Robin's sleeve as he dodged. "As was that." He turned to face the intimidating Deadlord, who was swinging yet again. Robin fired a bolt of electricity at the thing, which merely deflected it with its legendary weapon. It then swung down and tore through the hood of Robin's cloak, removing it completely. Following its arc, it slammed into the ground and created a small crevice in the dirt.

"Robin!" Chrom ran up and sliced the arm of the Deadlord, making it retreat slightly. "Need some help?"

"I wouldn't mind." The two took up a stance and faced the undead hero. It let out what most would assume to be a roar of rage, then began its assault. Weapons and magic clashed in explosions of colour and energy that cascaded across the darkened sky. Similar fights were breaking out across the rest of the sandy field and illuminating the silhouette of an enormous skeletal beast struggling against a boy on a spinning top. Roars of anger, shouts of pain and grunts of effort could be heard coming from the sandy dunes for miles as the fights raged on. At one point, the sound of something crashing against the ground echoed around the temple's exterior. Robin managed to peel his eyes away from the Deadlord in front of him to catch a glimpse of what happened. The enormous skeletal beast had gotten shorter. The base of its spine was missing a vertebrae, and Robin could see Link riding away from its underside. It immediately sped up its attacks, seemingly egged on by the amount of damage it had received. He was snapped back to his own fight when an arrow shot through the back of his cloak.

"Father!" Owain ran up and sliced the thing in its back, delaying it for the moment. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, thanks." Robin looked over his torn and tattered cloak. "They only seem to be after my robe today."

"Excellent! Then we shall end this as the legendary duo of the Master Sword Hand and Grandmaster Tactician! This battle will go down in history as the day we saved the world!"

"Indeed…" The Deadlord got back up, and the fight commenced. Swords and magic once again clashed in their glittery dance, neither side holding back. The fearsome duo of father and son proved to be too much for the Deadlord in the end, and it was beaten. They raced off to help other members of the Shepherds, each one having their own struggles.

The fight lasted for what felt like a lifetime. Every battle was a struggle, each one requiring full effort from at least two of the Shepherds to take down a Deadlord. The monotonous effort was only broken up twice, once by an earth shudder and roar similar to before, the second time by an even greater tremor. When that one happened, Robin looked to the middle of the field and saw the skeletal monster lying in the sand, most of its bones shattered and broken. It looked like the fight there was over, but Link's expression told otherwise. He was still in his emotionless battle stance, sword and shield grasped firmly in their respective hands. The bones began to rattle and shake, the ones that were still managing to hold together breaking into dust. Soon enough, the only part of the skeleton left was the skull. To the shock of everyone who was able to observe, the eyes began to glow once more, and the skull started floating. Once at altitude, it shot a ball of fire at Link, who deftly dodged to the side. He looked around the area for a split second, and his face fell. Another ball of fire was shot at him, which he blocked with his shield, and he ran towards Robin.

"What's wrong?" From Link's expression, he could tell that something was horribly wrong. "Need help?" A nod. "Okay, what can we do?" Link pointed towards the flying skull, then sent that same hand down. "I think I've got it. Come on; let's go find Cynthia." The two raced across the sandy expanse, searching for their quarry. They found her being healed up by Maribelle with Lon'qu and Laurent protecting them both. "Cynthia!"

"Uncle Robin!" She gave a playful salute despite the situation. "What's up?"

"We need your help, Cynthia. Think you can knock that down?" Robin pointed towards the floating skull, who was shooting fireballs at whoever got close, Deadlords included.

"I'm a hero; of course I can!"

"Excellent. We'll distract it while you find its weak spot."

"Can do!" She jumped on the back of her pegasus, then sped off towards the flying skull.

"...You could've waited for us." Robin sighed, and beckoned Link to follow. They ran out and started blasting the skull. Link pulled a bow out of his pouch of wonders, immediately shooting the thing in the eye. Robin followed it with a blast of Elfire, and the skull looked to the two. They two sides traded blows, a fireball for every shot. Cynthia, surprisingly stealthily, moved behind the head and looked for a weak point. The only thing that she found was a black sword stuck into its forehead, so, naturally, she swiped at it with her lance. The creature roared in pain, and the head fell to the ground.

"Cynthia for the win!" It was a premature celebration on her part. Link ran up to the skull, sword drawn, and began wailing on the black sword. Every hit sent lines of red energy coursing around the skull, slowly beginning its disintegration. Before the final blow could be landed, however, it recovered from Cynthia's initial attack. It sped off, in search of an easier target. "What happened?"

"It's tough. Come on, we have to try again." The sequence of events began anew; Robin and Link distracted the monstrous head while Cynthia went around and knocked it to the ground. Red lines again coursed through the skull, deteriorating it further, and the sword started to break. Again, the skull flew off, this time to harass Chrom.

"How many times do we have to do this?!"

"Three seems to be the magic number; it worked with most of Link's other 'friends'."

"Then let's go!" Cynthia raced off once more, chasing down the skull. Robin sighed and followed at his fastest pace, which couldn't really match up with the speed of a pegasus. When he had arrived, Cynthia had alerted the skull. The only thing she could do was dodge the fireballs shot at her as she frantically tried to get close.

"Cynthia! Get away from there!" Chrom had finally taken notice of the flying monster skull, and was now terrified for his future daughter.

"I'm trying!" Although, he wasn't that much help. All he could do was watch as his split-second distraction of Cynthia cost her. The skull had taken the opportunity to blast one last fireball at the pegasus and rider. It knocked her off and severely injured her ride, sending both crashing to the sand below.

"Cynthia!" Without warning, Chrom lept after the skull, missing it entirely. He tried again and again, dodging every fireball it threw by millimeters. Robin attempted to help by sending fireballs of his own at the flying skull along with Link's arrows. It didn't do much. Eventually, though, Chrom found his opening. Scattered around the desolate wastelands of the temple's exterior were small ruins; remnants of any good that may have existed there. The skull had drifted over to one of these; one of the ones that had a conveniently climbable surface. Chrom scampered up it, getting a burn on his arm along the way. Having a missing sleeve was never the best idea for a warrior. At the top of his new vantage point, Chrom jumped. He brought Falchion down on the black sword sticking out of the monster's head, shattering the weapon into thousands of tiny black shards. The head gave another tremendous roar and began to flail as best a severed head can. Its eyes slowly faded back into dark voids, and the skull fell. It crashed into the sand and half-buried itself. The skeleton was defeated, and there was only one opponent left: Aversa. She was sitting near the temple entrance, most of her confidence lost. Robin charged for her, running past Chrom and Cynthia. Aversa attempted to use a blast of dark magic against him, but Robin merely rolled to the side and returned an Elfire. His attack hit its target, and Aversa was sent flying into the side of the temple. Before Robin could throw another fireblast her way, she rushed into the temple, probably to warn Validar. Sighing, Robin turned and walked back to Chrom.

"How is she?"

"Unconscious, with a small burn on her ankle." The Exalt stood up. "This has to end."

"And it will; that's what we're here to do." Robin placed a hand on his best friend and brother-in-law's shoulder. "We're going to win; I know it." Chrom returned the gesture.

"I don't doubt it. Now, let's heal up and end this fight." The two smiled at each other. Chrom bent down and picked Cynthia up, and all three walked towards the healers. Despite what he had just said, Robin had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. Not everything was going to go according to plan.

 **A/N: I hope this chapter was as epic as I imagined it to be! To be honest with you guys, I've been waiting to add this boss in since near the beginning; I'm just glad I got to put it in! As always, be sure to review or PM with any questions, comments or concerns. I can't wait to hear from you guys!**


	20. Chapter 20

**Previous boss: Stallord, the awesome fossil from the Arbiter's Grounds**

"Validar!" It was a reckless charge by Chrom, but that just sums up part of who he is. Robin wasn't far behind, brandishing a Thoron tome. This was going to be the fight that ended the war; this would be the battle that determined the fate of the world. The slender man currently being charged at merely turned and smiled at the oncoming warriors.

"Ah, you're just in time. Grima will soon awaken!" His eerily coarse voice echoed around the chamber, somehow giving an intense sense of urgency. "You see, the Fire Emblem is not merely for stopping Grima; it is also what summons him!" Despite this, he was being ignored. The two after the wicked sorcerer were blocking out all unnecessary noise, completely focussed on their goal. That's probably why they didn't notice the magical barrier form between them and the rest of the Shepherds, along with their way out. The point of no return.

"You die today!" Validar stepped aside of Chrom's first strike, and countered Robin's.

"Is this the best Ylisse has to offer?" The man shot an enormous ball of dark magic between the Exalt and Grandmaster, sending both sprawling backwards. "Grima shall rise today!"

"And so shall a god!" A figure appeared between the dark sorcerer and the two royals sporting some very strange headgear. In fact, it looked quite familiar…

"You!" Robin managed to figure it out. "We killed you alongside Walhart!"

"That? That was merely an image of myself; a phantom, if you will." His mask retracted to reveal blue skin and deformed features underneath. His mouth contorted into a twisted smile… as did his body. The pure insanity shone through as he proceeded to laugh at them, sending a shiver down their spines. It was at that moment they heard a banging coming from the barrier. All eyes turned to see Link frantically slashing at the translucent purple wall before him, eyes focussed directly on the new figure. A disturbingly indescribable noise came from the twisted thing, and it stood up straight. "You again?!" He looked at Link a moment more, then smiled again. "Midna isn't here… You're all alone!" He did a strange little dance, put his helmet back on, and teleported to the other side of the barrier. His speech was now muffled, but it was obvious that it was just the ramblings of a madman. Without warning, the energy barriers they had encountered multiple times before enclosed the maniac and Link in a large arena that cut them off from their fellow Shepherds even further. The figure floated into the air, spread its arms wide, and began to slightly convulse. Enormous red sigils appeared behind him, stretching from floor to ceiling. They began to glow brighter and brighter, until they were covered in darkness. A cube of black and blue formed around the arena, blocking that fight from view. Robin and Chrom had each other, but Link was now completely alone. Another cackling laugh rang out, drawing attention back to Validar.

"Your friend is doomed, as are you!" He unleashed another blast of dark magic at the two, which they avoided, and charged once again. Falchion almost glowed in the light of Robin's Thoron as the two struck at the madman simultaneously. Validar avoided the attack by a hair, and retaliated with yet another blast of magic. The fight was beginning to feel familiar to Robin. Every strike that they took and every counter that Validar had all gave him a very real sense of deja vu. A few minutes in, he realized what it was. This was the fight. Almost three years ago now, when Chrom and Lissa had discovered him lying in a field, he had had a dream. In it, he was fighting alongside Chrom against Validar in the exact same manner. The fight had ended with… less than favourable results, which was something Robin intended to change. However, in order for the plan to work, he would have to wait until near the end of the fight. This would be a challenge.

The battle was a flurry of sword strikes and magic clashes, each one ending in either a draw or a miss. Validar was nimble, either moving out of the way of Chrom's strikes, or teleporting away from Robin's magic. It felt so futile, but two of the combatants already knew the outcome, and how they were going to change it. When exhaustion finally began to take its toll on all three combatants, it happened. The most vivid part of Robin's dream came to fruition. In a move that they had prepared specifically for this moment, Robin shot a Thoron directly at Chrom. He moved Falchion to intercept, causing the blade to course with the magical electricity. Using all his concentration, Robin kept the flow of energy around the blade, giving the sun a run for its money. Mildly surprised by this sudden and reckless move, Validar flinched, and that's all Chrom needed. He plunged Falchion directly through Validar's black heart, the blade's tip poking out of the sorcerer's robes.

"You lose." Chrom withdrew the electrified sword and sheathed it, allowing Robin to focus his attention elsewhere; namely, the reduction of his magic. They both watched as Validar began to dissolve in purple flames, unaware that his little ruse was already anticipated. Chrom looked back to Robin, smiling.

"This isn't over!" Validar's voice, now echoing around the room, yelled at them. "Damn you both!" His words were punctuated with a ball of dark energy headed straight for Chrom. Robin pushed the Exalt aside and took the full force of the magic attack. The impact made him black out for a brief second, exactly as he had seen. When his vision returned, he saw Chrom standing over him, offering a hand.

"Are you alright?" Chrom's lines, thankfully, came off as natural as he hoisted Robin off the ground. "Thanks to you we carry the day." Suddenly, Robin's head began to throb, and his vision turned red. Chrom's concerned voice became muffled, and he lost control of his limbs. He watched as his hand went to Chrom's gut and created a small spear out of electricity. With more force than he thought possible, he stabbed the electrical weapon right into Chrom's stomach. He began to regain control as the Exalt staggered back, grasping at the bolt of energy now lodged in his torso. Robin looked down at his hand to see electricity arcing between his fingers. He was mostly checking the level of magic he had just used while giving the appearance of shock and dismay. He looked back at Chrom to see him stumbling, about to fall over.

"This is not your… your fault." It may have been a weakened blow, but it still had to hurt. "Promise me… Promise me you'll escape from this place… please…" He gave a small grunt and collapsed to the floor. Validar's laugh again echoed throughout the room, his victory seemingly assured.

"Father!" When Validar had tried to fake his death, he inadvertently let down the magical barrier, allowing Lucina to squeeze past Link's black box battle. "No! Our dark future is written once more…" Validar reappeared in a flash of purple, again laughing at his victory.

"You cannot alter fate! It was destined that he would fall here, as will the world!"

"Don't you take any stock in this 'destiny' hogwash." Basilio emerged from the shadows, ready to explain his role in Robin's plan.

"Khan Basilio!" _Oh, right. Forgot to tell Lucina._ Robin only paid attention to half of the following conversation, as he was more concerned with the man lying on the floor. He knelt down next to the Exalt and pulled an Elixir he had borrowed from Lissa out of one of his coat pockets. He carefully poured some into Chrom's gaping mouth, and watched as his breathing steadied.

"You alright?"

"Ungh… yeah…" He began to slowly get up, eyes locked on Validar. "It… worked…"

"Yep." Robin stood back up and faced Validar, who was in disbelief. _Thank the Gods that replica gemstone worked._ Just as the dark sorcerer was about to turn, Robin shot a Thoron directly at the man. Validar noticed in time to not have the blast shoot straight through his body, but it did still make an enormous gash in his side. For the first time, fear enveloped the madman's face.

"No, this can't be! You will perish here! Grima WILL rise!" He took a couple steps back, then vanished in another flash of purple. From the other side of the enormous black box, they heard shouts of surprise from their fellow Shepherds, signaling Validar's appearance.

"Let's finish this!" Basilio drew his axe, and ran past the cube of darkness. Lucina ran over to Chrom, enveloping him in a hug. Robin smiled as he saw tears of happiness running down her face, then focussed his attention on the elephant in the room. He cautiously approached the shifting wall before him, hand slightly outstretched. To his surprise, the shifting wall was solid and cold to the touch. No longer worried about his own safety, he began to panic and push up against the wall.

"Come on!" Using as much strength as he could muster, he gave the wall his hardest shove. Nothing. "What is this thing?"

"Robin!" Chrom came up, supported by Lucina. "Can you get through?"

"I don't know."

"Well, have you tried magic?"

"Just about to, actually." Robin readied his Thoron, and shot at the barrier. To everyone's amazement, the dark wall just… absorbed it. The only indication that something had happened was a brief glow in the spot where the spell hit, which quickly faded. "Huh." He again touched the spot, which was ice cold.

"What do we do now?"

"Hm…" Robin leaned against the darkness, attempting to listen to whatever was encapsulated inside. "You two should go help the others. If Validar escapes, this will have all been for nothing."

"But what about you?"

"I'm gonna keep trying. We have to help him somehow."

"Right. We'll come back and help you get in once Validar's gone."

"What, think I can't do it?" The only response he got was a smile from Chrom. He smiled back and watched as the Exalt and his daughter walked off, ready to face their enemy. Robin returned his attention to the evil box in front of him. As he thought about what else he could possibly do, he noticed a fluctuation in the solidity of the box. For the briefest of seconds, it had gotten lighter. "What the…" Robin placed his hand on the wall, trying to get a sense of what just happened. _Did it… weaken for a second? Maybe that'll be my chance._ Just as he was trying to think of how best to determine when it would happen again, it happened again. Unfortunately for the man, he had quite a bit of his weight on it when the barrier faded, and he fell through. Robin stumbled face-first into what looked like a wooden temple. The madman that seemed to know Link was hopping around intricate pillars that were placed in a circle in the center of the room. Link himself was merely watching, sword sheathed, waiting for the perfect moment. It came when the lunatic stopped on one of the pillars, aiming some kind of fireball at Link. He ran up and hit the pillar with enormous strength, causing the man above to wobble and fall. Before he could recover, a sword sliced across his body, clearly hurting him but not causing any physical damage. The thing screamed and floated into the air, once again creating the symbols behind him.

The room changed again, this time to an iced-over room, complete with slippery floor. Robin stared in amazement as the madman became a giant, still hovering just above the ground. Now was probably a good time to intervene. He took the Elfire tome out of his robe and tried to hit the enormous villain. Unfortunately, the thing was still immensely fast, and dodged it, making Robin's attempt merely melt some of the ice on the wall. The large figure looked in his direction, floated over, and attempted to squish him. Due to the iced floor, Robin was unable to move in time. Just before the gargantuan foot flattened the tactician, a ball of metal got between the two. The giant being screamed in pain, grabbed its foot, and began to shrink. It hopped around the room, growing smaller and smaller until it was only about the height of Robin's knee. Link ran forward, sliding most of the way, and sliced it mercilessly with his sword. It screamed once more, then rose back up, gaining size. Link rushed over to Robin and helped him stand, constantly looking down at the floor.

"Thanks. What's going o-!" Link pulled Robin aside as the madman once again landed on the ice where they were just standing, sending tremors throughout the room. He proceeded to stomp after them as they ran away, footing all the more troubled. It seemed to get frustrated with this, and flew into the air again. Robin noticed Link staring down at the ice below, and decided to do the same. _Of course! His reflection is in the ice, so we can see what he does without him realizing what we're doing! Genius!_ The reflection in the ice made a movement, and so did the two fighters. Barely out of the way of the thing's weight, Robin fired an Elfire at the figure's foot, and it again hopped around the room. Link ran up and delivered what should have been the final blow, but the figure merely floated up again, making symbols once more.

The next, and hopefully final, location was on a bridge in front of a large castle with familiar red barriers blocking escape. The robed figure stood before them, swaying from side to side. In the blink of an eye, he had unsheathed swords from somewhere in his sleeves and was flailing them towards the two warriors. They jumped sideways, avoiding the flurry of blows. He then vanished, only to reappear at the edge of the enclosed space and start spinning. It was surprisingly effective, forcing Link to block with his shield and Robin to hide behind him. Robin was still amazed by the barrage of blows that Link could withstand under the protection of his shield, managing to outlast the enemy's stamina. As soon as the madman's spinning slowed, both fighters lept into action. Link slashed away at him with incredible speed while Robin assaulted him with Elfires. It writhed in pain before vanishing again, only to repeat its tactic. Again, they dodged a barrage of slashes and blocked the spinning top of a person. The final swathe of attacks from the two warriors seemed to do it, as the illusion slowly faded away. He floated into the air for the final time, arms hanging limply at his sides.

"Not… again…" His body twisted and contorted in one of the most horrifying displays Robin had ever seen, then slowly disintegrated into black rectangles, signifying the fight's end. They looked around to see the Dragon's Table slowly coming back into view, along with the relieved faces of all the Shepherds.

"And you doubted me." Robin walked over to Chrom as the illusionary room dissolved, smiling.

"Not for a second."

"Don't think that you've won." All faces turned to see Robin's identity thief appear at the end of the room. "All you have done is delay his rising. Grima and Ganondorf will rise and become the new rulers of this world!"

"That's not going to happen." Robin only felt anger and hatred towards this twin, and he wasn't entirely sure why. "I gathered from Validar that Grima can only return when he has a vessel and the Emblem, and we've killed your vessel." Robin indicated to the body of Validar lying on the floor. His doppleganger smiled and laughed at his assumption.

"That was not our vessel. Our vessel is you."

"What?!"

"The child of the Grimleal leader was always destined to be Grima's vessel; the perfectly bred specimen."

"I'll never accept Grima! A vessel has to be willing, right? Well I refuse Grima's rule!"

"Hmph. You've chosen this little band of mercenaries over godhood? Well, no matter. I shall merely take your place."

"You'll do what?"

"I am the you who accepted Grima's reign; the one from your children's future. I followed them back to ensure that Grima would once again rise, and history would remain the same. I _am_ Grima!" He raised his arms, and was enveloped in a swathe of purple mist. Grima was awakening. The temple began to collapse around them, forcing a retreat. At the last possible second, Robin had the idea to run to the altar and take back what was rightfully theirs. Everyone ran out the front door, fear in their minds and almost all hope forgotten. They turned to see the Fell Dragon rising above the temple, overshadowing everything before it. They could hear faint laughing coming from the massive four-winged black dragon; specifically, a figure on its head.

"No! Grima has risen! Our bleak future is sealed…" Lucina was practically in tears, convinced that all was lost.

"We lost the Emblem…" Chrom seemed just as dejected.

"You mean this Emblem?" Robin handed the artifact over to the stunned Exalt, who merely stared. "I thought we might need it, so I grabbed it before the building collapsed."

"Robin, you really are a genius. Frederick, you're most familiar with the Emblem; where can we summon the Divine Dragon?"

"A place called Mount Prism, milord. It is far from here, so I suggest we move as quickly as possible."

"Agreed. Robin; what's our best option?"

"Our best option would be to send our flyers, along with a few other Shepherds, to the mountain. Everyone else should stay behind and delay things as best they can. I'd suggest myself, Chrom, Frederick, Link, and Lucina to go with them."

"Alright. Flyers, mount up! We leave immediately!" Before they left, everyone said their goodbyes. Robin hugged his children and kissed his wife goodbye.

"We'll be back; don't worry."

"You'd better!" Lissa hugged him one final time before the small force set off. It was time to meet a Goddess.

 **A/N: This chapter was tough to write. Adding in the boss wasn't so hard, but describing everything that happened was. I hope I did it well! Anyway, if you have any questions, comments or concerns, either review or PM. Things are really heating up!**


	21. Chapter 21

**Previous Boss: Zant, the insane king from the Twilight Realm**

They needed to hurry. The flight to Mount Prism was fast and deadly; even more so when they saw the swathes of darkness encircling parts of the land. The once clear fields and forests of Ylisse were slowly being taken over by some dark force that seemed intent on total domination. _So this is 'Twilight',_ Robin thought as they shot past the slowly expanding black-and-gold barriers. _We really need Naga's help now._

"Uncle Robin?"

"What is it, Cynthia?"

"Can we win?"

"What do you mean; of course we can! We have to."

"But what if we don't?"

"Then we go down heroes." Robin smiled at his niece, and she smiled back.

"Oh! Yeah! We're almost there! The mountain's just up ahead!" He leaned to look around her, and caught a glimpse of the mountain before them. It appeared to be one of the few peaceful places left in Ylisse; until his view became obstructed by another pillar of Twilight that began to coat the land below.

"Speed up, Cynthia! There isn't much time left!"

"On it!" Her pegasus had a massive boost of speed, and the mountain grew much closer.

"Sorry we couldn't get higher up the mountain…"

"It's okay, Cynthia. I do understand that pegasi get tired; that's why I got more people to come."

"Do you think we'll run into monsters?"

"Based on the landscape?" Robin motioned to the slowly deforming view of Ylisse that could be seen from their vantage point high on the mountain. "Yes." The two moved to regroup with the other Shepherds, who had managed to land just before them. Against Robin's more sane advice, Chrom and Sumia immediately set off for the mountain temple, not wanting to waste any time. This, of course, led to the next hour or so.

As the remainder of the Shepherds were moving up the mountainside, they saw a frantic Sumia running back towards them.

"We need help!"

"What's wrong, Sumia?"

"It's not good, Robin. There are a bunch of Risen in our way, and they seem to be more aggressive."

"So you decided to leave your husband, Chrom, alone with them?"

"Yes…?"

"Chrom, the man who would fight a rabbit if it looked at him funny, is alone with a bunch of angry Risen?"

"What are you-" Her eyes widened, and she covered her mouth with both hands. "Oh, no."

"Come on; let's hurry before he gets into too much trouble!" Sumia was the first to speed off, eager to correct her mistake. Before long, everyone else caught up with her only to see their Exalt surrounded by a hoarde of… Risen? Upon first glance, the things were very reminiscent of Risen, but they were altered. They were bigger, no longer needed weapons to fight, had skin as black as the night sky, and were covered in glowing red sigils very similar to the ones they saw on the shadow beasts. They had Chrom outnumbered almost fifty to one, and more were arriving from a portal in the sky. Without wasting a second, Robin got everyone into formation and charged. At the moment, their only goal was to rescue the hard-headed Exalt as he tiredly battled for what little life was left in him. Problem was, these Risen were infinitely more durable. Even Link's incredible sword, which normally had no trouble dealing with the decaying monsters, had to take several extra swipes at the deformed creatures. It also seemed that whatever had happened to them had made them more intelligent. They avoided more of the Shepherds' attacks, teamed up in a very similar style to Robin's own strategies, and surrounded people as often as they could. With monumental effort, gaining many a wound along the way, Robin, Lucina, Link and Frederick made it to Chrom.

"Thanks for showing up."

"Thank us when we get out of this."

"Fair enough. What's the plan, Robin?"

"Working on it."

"Sires, may I suggest a tactical retreat?"

"Sorry, Freddy, can't do that; we need to go up."

"That is what I was implying."

"What?"

"I am fairly certain that these decrepit beasts will not venture too close to Naga's shrine in fear of her wrath, so that would most likely be the safest place for us."

"Huh. Guess you're right, Frederick. Okay, then; everyone! We're heading up the mountain! Only kill those you have to!" A small cry came from each Shepherd to signal that they had heard. With that out of the way, the small group in the middle nodded to each other, then proceeded up the mountain. As the five of them desperately fought their way up to the unseen shrine, the small sense of hope they had been feeling was slowly draining away. If these mutated Risen had managed to get this far up the mountain, Naga's power over them must be very weak. How much power did she have left? Would the power of a god be enough to slay another? The last question had an unsettling answer.

"Everyone… here?" Robin panted, sweat and exhaustion blurring his vision.

"We're… all here." Chrom answered, equally spent.

"Well then… let's go and… meet a god."

"Can we… take five minutes first?"

"I… think we can… spare that." At the end of his sentence, Robin fell backwards onto the ground, arms outstretched. Many of the other Shepherds followed suit, glad for the chance to finally rest their aching muscles. _So… that's what the Twilight does, huh? Turns monsters into abominations. This needs to stop._ "Alright… we should go." Robin slowly got up from his place in the dirt, mirroring the efforts of the Shepherds.

"Right. The temple shouldn't be too far." Chrom motioned for the group to follow, and they continued the tedious climb up the mountain. Before too long, they reached their goal. "Huh."

"What is it?"

"Well, I didn't think it would look nearly identical to Plegia's temple. It's a little disconcerting." Robin took another look at the mountaintop building before them, and had to agree. With the small exceptions of mark replacements and colour, the stone structure was identical to that of Plegia's.

"It is, now that I look at it."

"Father, Uncle; I believe that we should talk about architecture later. There is a crisis on our hands."

"You're right, Lucina. Let's go." Chrom turned and walked into the temple, the rest of the Shepherds directly behind. Inside, they, unsurprisingly, found the altar to Naga exactly where the altar to Grima was in this holy place's counterpart. Chrom took a deep breath, then stepped forward. "Whatever happens, all of you stay back." He slowly made his way to the altar, proceeding to take the Emblem out and place it upon the shrine. As soon as it touched the shining marble, the gemstones began to give off a faint glow. "Divine Dragon! We call upon you in this land's time of need! Evil is upon us, and you are the last hope we have! Naga, we need your strength!" Blue flames erupted from the emblem, reaching up to the ceiling above the altar. Tendrils of flame spread out from the base of the fire, searching for whomever called upon it. When one reached Chrom, the rest moved in and surrounded him, obscuring the Exalt from sight behind a wall of fire.

"Father!"

"Daddy!" Lucina and Cynthia attempted to charge towards him, but were held back by Robin and Gerome.

"Don't worry girls; I'm fine. It doesn't hurt that much." Just as he finished his sentence, the flames around him rapidly expanded, engulfing the whole room in its pale blue light. It was astoundingly cool to the touch, despite the energized frenzy it had gotten itself into.

"Brave warriors…" A voice echoed around the chamber, prompting everyone to look in the direction of the altar. A woman cloaked in green mist began to appear amongst the flames, her features illuminated by the colour of the room. As her green hair floated as if in water, the thought ran through everyone's mind: they were now in the presence of a Goddess. "You have passed my trial of flame, and have proven yourselves of pure intent."

"Naga; we need your help. Grima has risen, and we need your strength to defeat the monster."

"I know of this plight, and wish to help."

"So… you'll help us put down Grima?"

"Alas, I cannot do this."

"But… you're the Divine Dragon! You're a god!"

"That is what your people have named me, yes. It is also true that Grima's power and mine are in direct contrast, but there is one problem. One cannot kill the other; we are locked in an eternal struggle of light and dark. My power is only enough to make him slumber for another thousand years."

"I will gladly accept any power you can offer, Divine Dragon. Though, I must ask, what would be able to stop Grima forever?"

"Only his own power would be able to stop him."

"So…" Robin, finally able to speak over the awe of this being, had an unpleasant idea forming in his head. "He can only be permanently stopped by himself?"

"Yes, though I doubt he is willing to forfeit his own life for the sake of others. Still, I shall spare all my power to help both you and those in need. But first…" Her gaze shifted to Link, who seemed remarkably unfazed by the appearance of a Goddess. "Young warrior." His solemn expression moved up to face the ethereal presence. "You were sent here by the three Goddesses in order to stop a threat to both your world and ours. You have made many ties to the people of this land, but your heart is still troubled. They sensed this, and have sent a messenger that may be familiar to you." She motioned down to a spot beside the altar, where a yellow glow was appearing. In a sudden, brilliant flash of the golden light, it took on the shape of a one-eyed golden wolf, which remained sitting next to the marble structure. Surprisingly, a small gasp came from Link. _The Divine Dragon doesn't phase him, but a glowing wolf does? Seriously?_ The wolf reared up and howled, creating another blinding glow. When vision returned to everyone there, they all gasped. In front of them was an armoured skeleton, covered in moss and missing the same eye the wolf was. In his left hand he carried an enormous sword, while in his right he held a golden shield the same colour as his armour.

"Chosen hero…" A ghostly voice echoed from the skeletal warrior. "You are not the same as when we last met. You have become stronger… but you also bear a heavy burden. Regret fills your mind, and sorrow clouds your judgement. It should not be this way. I am certain that others have told you that your actions were not out of malice, but out of concern, and they are right. You only ended that man's life to protect so many more, and that is what counts. Do not look back on that action with shame, but with the pride that you were able to overcome yourself to save others. Of all the regrets I may have, and all the ones I could have had, this would never have been one. This may not convince you that your actions were right, but you can be assured that they were both understandable and justified. I have done all I can, and you must do the same. Remember my words, young hero, and never stray from your path. You are still a good person." With that, he began to vanish, giving what Robin had to assume was a skeletal smile. When he was gone, attention returned to the Divine Dragon.

"I shall attempt to keep the darkness at bay, and I will clear a path for you and your comrades. Now…" She pointed a hand towards Chrom's Falchion, which levitated itself out of its sheath and moved towards Naga's hand. "Use my power well." When the sword touched her hand, an explosion of light and energy erupted from the hole in the sword's hilt. The Shepherds had to struggle in order to maintain their footing as energy poured from Naga into the blade. The light intensified as the sword became visibly altered, signifying that her power had combined with that of the blade. The blue flames that had engulfed the room began to retreat back to the Emblem, and Falchion slowly floated back to the ground. Once the room had returned to its natural colour, Chrom moved forward and grabbed the now glowing blade that was resting on the Fire Emblem. He turned, blade held high, and faced the Shepherds.

"We will win! We have the power of a God behind us! Grima will not take this world!" A cheer erupted from all those assembled, regaining the hope they had lost on the way up the mountain. "Okay, time to go! I'm certain that Naga can't keep this darkness at bay for long, so we need to be fast. Everyone outside!" They all rushed back out to the darker open air, looking desperately for a clear path.

"There!" Cherche pointed at a steady, winding path through the borders of the Twilight, slightly illuminated by a blue glow from the clouds above. "Naga is pointing the way!"

"I suggest we get the rest of the Shepherds, then follow this path all the way to Grima. We need as much strength as we can muster."

"Just what I was thinking. Mount up; we're going to go regroup and head through the path. It's time to end this fight!" Chrom's words were greeted with the clinking of armour and the beat of wings as his orders were followed. They raced out across the now mostly devastated landscape as fast as they could, ready to face whatever lay ahead. Just before they departed, however, Robin managed to catch a glimpse of Link's face. He still wore the same solemn expression, but his eyes had softened. _It worked. I'm not sure how, but it worked. That skeletal warrior got through to him. Good. We'll need everyone at their best; it's all or nothing now. The fate of the world is in our hands… and the future might be in mine._

 **A/N: Hey guys! Sorry about the longer wait, but I wasn't too happy with the dialogue in this chapter, so it took a bit longer to figure out. I'm still not entirely happy with it, but it'll do. Oh, and hey, thanks to WolfShadow96 and you guys for supporting him because I almost forgot about the Hero's Shade. It might not be in the chapter you wanted him to, but I felt that it made more sense for him to be here. Be sure to review or PM with any questions, concerns or comments. Tell me what you thought!**


	22. Chapter 22

"Chrom?"

"Hm?"

"Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Of course." Robin led Chrom off to the side of the path illuminated by Naga. "What's up?"

"I've been thinking about what Naga said. Grima can only be destroyed by his own power, right? Well, I have some of Grima's power in me. If I can manage to tap into that, maybe I can finish off Grima once and for all."

"That's not a bad idea."

"It is indeed possible." Naga's voice resounded through their heads as if she was a part of their minds. "However, the safety of this cannot be guaranteed. You and Grima are linked to one another, both lives will end at the same time."

"So… I won't come back?"

"You have made many ties with both this world and another. If those bonds are strong enough, there is a chance that you may be revived. Slim, but a chance."

"Robin, you can't do this." Robin stared silently at the ground, trying to look like he was thinking it over, but both of them already knew what he was going to do. "You have to promise me that you won't sacrifice yourself." Chrom was still going to try, though.

"I'm sorry, but I can't make that promise."

"Robin…"

"I'm afraid I must cut this debate short; I can sense Grima's rise in power, along with another that rivals his own. If you do not hurry, awakener, it will be too late."

"...Fine. We'll discuss this later. For now, let's get to the top of Origin Peak." Chrom stormed off, possibly up to vent his feelings on Sumia. Robin was about to follow, when a high-pitched 'Ahem' made him turn. Behind him was an angry Lissa, hands on her hips and flames in her eyes.

"Sacrifice yourself?"

"Um-"

"No, no don't try and explain; it looks like you've already made up your mind! You just decided that not living would be the best option without even asking me?! Did you even think about the people you're leaving behind?!" Tears began to fly, and her arms flailed angrily against his chest. "Morgan, Owain, and… Owain! Not to mention me!"

"But you were who I was thinking about."

"I know, but…"

"If I do this, none of you will have to suffer because of this Dragon anymore. I'll protect so many people that I care about, you first among them. I wish I didn't have to, but there isn't another choice."

"I don't want you to die…"

"I don't want to either…" They stood with Lissa trembling in Robin's arms, and tears coming from both their eyes. They stood that way until Chrom called to the Shepherds, signaling that the enemy was ahead. That was when the two broke apart, gave each other a silent look, then took off for the battlefield; unwilling, but ready for what may come.

This time, the literal uphill battle involved both the twisted Twilight Risen and Grimleal followers, all trying to prevent the Shepherds from reaching the mountain's vantage point. At the head of it all was Aversa, her smug grin gone, replaced by a look of frustration and desperation.

"How dare you?! You think you can just kill Validar, pass through the Twilight, and end Lord Grima?! These foolish ideas end here! You will all die, right here, right now!" Her words sent all the enemies between her and the Shepherds into a wild frenzy, all desperate to protect whom they assumed to be their gods.

"Robin, ideas?"

"Just one." He turned to the Shepherds behind him, giving a distressed yet excited smile. Despite how many times they had been in similar situations, it was so very rare that Robin got to use this strategy, and even rarer that he got to command it. "CHARGE!" Exhilaration rushed through his body as the group gave a terrifying yell, and the ground began to shake with their footsteps. _Though, for this to work, I may have to change a few things._ His eyes scanned the thundering Shepherds, until he found the green-clad warrior slashing at the mutated Risen, seemingly back to his normal self. Robin fought his way over, eliminating Grimleal and injuring Risen as he went. "Link!" The boy turned his head to face him as his sword sliced clean through one of the Risen. "I need your help. You and that sword of yours seem to have no problem with these Risen, so I want us to go and take out Aversa. Once we do, the enemies should lessen." Link nodded, then turned back to the Risen in front of him. Robin took on the Grimleal amongst the oncoming horde, allowing Link to focus solely on the Twilight-infested Risen. They fought their way up the mountainside like this, becoming a two-man army. Through the chaos and mass amounts of enemies, Robin could see Aversa getting ever closer, her expression constantly growing more frantic. He also noticed the sky growing slightly darker, Naga's light fading. _We don't have long._ "We need to move faster. Any ideas?" Link seemed to consider this for a second, before reaching into his pouch and pulling out a small, black stone. His body turned completely black, mimicking the skies above. He then began to twist and warp, his form turning from that of a strangely-dressed man to a strangely large wolf. Colour returned to his body, and his new tail began to sway back and forth. Link made a motion with his head, as if to signal Robin to do something. It took him a second to figure out what it was. "You want me to get on?" The wolf ran around behind Robin and shoved itself underneath him, forcing the tactician to take up an automatic horse-riding stance. Before he could even register that he was now riding his friend that had just turned into a wolf, Link took off at lightning speed up the inclined terrain. Robin managed to grab a tuft of fur on the beast's neck as the landscape rushed past, enemies and all. The sudden transformation had stunned all of the Grimleal, and the Risen seemed to be too slow to do anything about it. The pair flew along the rocky surface, both sets of eyes locked on Aversa, who looked absolutely terrified.

"S-stay back!" She held a tome defensively in one hand, her other one outstretched and shaking. Robin and Link stopped near her, Robin removing himself from the fierce-looking wolf's back. Link growled at Aversa, then looked back at Robin.

"It's fine; I've got this. You go help the others." He gave a whine of concern, but followed Robin's advice and took off in the opposite direction. Robin's attention returned to Aversa, who was slowly regaining her composure.

"I won't allow you to pass! You will never reach Grima!"

"You're wrong." Robin pulled his seldom-used Bolganone tome out of his cloak, ready for a fight. "We're going to reach Grima and Ganondorf and stop this nightmare; whether you move out of the way or not."

"Fool! You and your band of riffraff will never get past the army of Risen and Grimleal, let alone me!"

"Then why are you so scared?" A fireball went towards Robin's head, which he deftly avoided. Just as he had figured, Aversa's fear and anger had gotten the better of her, and now she was fighting sloppily; she was a mess compared to their fight back at the Dragon's Table. Unfortunately, that also made her fast. Spouts of flame rapidly shot towards Robin, forcing him to be constantly on the move. He was left rolling and diving every which way just to avoid the onslaught of inaccurate yet scorching attacks, and was unable to return with any of his own. _If I can just get in one shot…_

"What's wrong, tactician? Afraid?!" He could hear the fatigue in her voice, and was now noticing the frequency of her shots slowing. He didn't bother responding, as he noticed a small opening in her attacks. _Just gotta wait for it… there!_ He sent one fireball from the top-tier tome, which managed to pierce Aversa's defenses. Her fear made her move slightly out of the way, but the blast of fire managed to burn her side intensely. The pain caused her to drop to the ground, clutching her left side. Robin walked up to her, tome in hand. She instantly flung up her spellcasting arm, ready to fight. Robin sighed.

"Look, I don't want to do this. Just surrender, and we'll go our separate ways."

"Never! I won't ever bow to the likes of you!" She shot a weak fireball at him, which he just stepped to the side to avoid.

"Fine." He raised his spellcasting arm as she closed her eyes, then hit her on the head, knocking her out. Robin rubbed his aching wrist, looking down at the limp form of his adversary. "Man, do you have a hard head."

"Robin!" Chrom, followed by everyone else, came running up to him. "We've taken care of them."

"Good; now we can get to Grima."

"Right. Any ideas on how to do that? Getting onto the back of a giant, world-destroying dragon isn't exactly easy."

"Um…"

"I have your solution." Naga's voice resounded through their heads once more, startling the Shepherds that hadn't been around when they first met her. "My power grows weak, but I have enough strength to get all of you onto the Fell Dragon's back. The weak point on the nape of his neck will be heavily guarded, so I suggest you prepare yourselves before allowing me to transport you."

"There's our answer. Okay, everyone gear up! We're leaving within the hour!" Chrom walked off to go see his daughters and Sumia, while Lissa, Owain and Morgan came up to Robin to help him do the same thing. They spent the remaining time repairing their armour, sharpening their swords and refreshing their tomes in tense silence. Not long before every Shepherd was ready, the four of them huddled together, small tears coming from each of their faces. It wasn't exactly the last image Robin wanted to have of his family, but he was glad that he could have a last image. Their brief time of silent goodbyes was overtaken when Chrom called for Robin to discuss strategy.

When everything was ready, the Shepherds stood in the formation Robin thought would work the best for their assault on the Fell Dragon, Chrom and Robin up at the front. Robin nodded to Chrom, who looked up to the dark sky.

"Okay, Naga; we're ready. Take us to Grima's back." Bright light filled the Shepherds' vision as Chrom's request was met, and a sense of dizziness penetrated their minds. When the sensation began to lessen, they could almost feel the dark energy of the beings they were reappearing near course throughout their bodies. The light slowly faded, unveiling their position on the middle of the enormous purple dragon's back, facing two figures up at the head of the dragon, one of which was extremely familiar. The other had its arms crossed, and a smile spread across his face. This was it.

 **A/N: Happy Holidays, everyone! Sorry if this wasn't too exciting, but this chapter in the game wasn't really the most eventful. That made it a bit difficult to write, but I think I got it in the end. As always, if you have any questions, concerns or comments, feel free to review or PM. The end is almost here!**


	23. Chapter 23

Robin's eyes locked with his evil counterpart's as soon as he appeared on the scales of the gigantic dragon. His twin was giving a vicious smile, as if he knew they were coming, and the seven-foot-tall man beside him was giving one of the deepest laughs he had ever heard. Seconds later, ethereal spikes shot up from the dragon's back, managing to strike every single Shepherd at least once. The initial pain was intense, dropping everyone there to their knees, but it slowly lessened. The spikes hadn't actually caused any physical damage, but they were slowly sapping the strength of everyone they touched. They all struggled to remain conscious, the life draining from their bodies. At that point, the vessel of Grima walked forward and stood over Robin, giving a low cackle.

"Did you think you actually had a chance? Did you really think that this pathetic bunch of ragtag mercenaries could stop the alliance of Ganon and Grima?!" Robin responded with an intensely angry glare, his brain frantically trying to come up with a solution to their current predicament. "No matter; despite your interferences, the two of us will soon reign over this world!" His doppelganger paused as if thinking something over, then widened his grin. "Although, there is still a chance that this little band may survive."

"What… do you… mean…?" Robin was now near the point of blacking out, he was so drained.

"Accept your destiny; allow your body to be taken over, and I shall spare this pathetic lot, despite how much it will pain me! Submit to me and live!"

"You… think me… an idiot?"

"What?"

"You'd… kill them… anyway…"

"True, but you could have at least been their hero just before their demise. A 'heroic' sacrifice before their end! Oh, well. You will just have to join them in endless suffering!" The vessel of Grima raised a hand, and dark magic began spilling from it, encasing Robin in a ball of darkness. It slowly shrank and contorted until there was only a wobbly spot in space left, as if you could see heat coming off of the creature's scales.

"Robin!" Chrom attempted to reach out for the spot, but was hardly able to lift a finger.

On the other side of it, Robin was now able to move again, but no longer had the will to. He was lying prone on the solid black void, convinced that the enemy had won.

"We… I… failed. They're too strong… everyone almost died, and they didn't even touch us… it's hopeless…" He listened to his defeated tone echo around the endless black void. "I just hope they're okay…"

"They're dead!"

"...What?" Grima's human form appeared in front of him, an enormous grin on his face.

"Your 'friends' are dying right now, and there isn't a thing you can do! Soon, the world shall be covered in darkness, with me as its ruler!" Robin stared in mild shock at the man. Part of him was actually believing the monster's bluff, which only grew as time wore on. His hope was nearly gone when a small voice faded into existence.

"Y- -ave -o fi- -ck!" Robin could've sworn he'd heard that voice before.

"What?! No! How is this happening?!" Grima was starting to panic, his whole body trembling with anger and fear.

"Fight back!" Robin could now tell who's voice it was. "You can't give up!"

"...Chrom…?"

"You have to keep fighting! Come on, Robin; we need you!"

"How is this possible?!" Grima's composure shattered.

"Come on, you can do it! We believe in you!"

"Yeah!" Another voice entered the abyss. "You're not leaving me alone with Chrom, are you, mister?"

"L-lissa?" Robin's spirit was starting to come back.

"You must not fall here, Father! Your story is not yet over!"

"Don't think you're leaving us, Father! You still have strategies to teach me!"

"Owain… Morgan…" As Robin began to stand up, other voices echoed through the abyss, all trying to convince him to get back up. All the Shepherds were yelling at him to get up, with the exception of one, who didn't speak anyway.

"No, no, no, no!"

"What's wrong, Grima?" Robin was now on his feet, still slightly hunched, but now able to arrogantly smirk at his counterpart. "Something not going to plan?"

"What are you doing?!"

"It's not what I'm doing; it's what I've done. I've made friends and formed bonds all over this world, all of them unbreakable." Robin could feel a surprising amount of energy coursing through his body, and an unbelievable amount of shame at what he was about to say. "This is the strength of love!" His body started giving off an intense light, almost blinding the Fell Dragon.

The wobbling air where Robin had disappeared began to shift and move, getting faster and faster until a small sliver of light appeared. The sky cracked with light, raising Ganondorf's eyebrows and stunning every Shepherd. The human form of Grima reappeared next to the seven-foot figure, rage and fear plastered over his face. The cracks expanded and widened until the fabric of space could take it no more, and the air shattered into a blinding light. When it subsided, Robin was standing where he had once been, almost completely rejuvenated. Almost the instant he returned, Naga's voice rang in the Shepherds' heads.

"Brave warriors, take the strength that I can spare, and save this world from the evil of Grima." A green light enveloped the Shepherds, removing the purple spikes and revitalising every member.

"I thought so."

"What?!"

"That kid's slippery; there's no way it would be that easy. You made the mistake of underestimating them."

"But-"

"They have Gods on their side; this fight was never going to be a walk in the park."

"You told me that winning was assured!"

"I did. I didn't say that it would be easy." Grima gave Ganon a low growl, then returned his frazzled attention to the biggest threat, which was now on the move. The Shepherds had mobilized as a unit, heavier soldiers in the front, ranged ones in the back, and everyone else somewhere in between. Robin used this formation quite often, as it was very effective, but there was a big difference this time: Morgan was commanding it. Robin, Chrom and Link were off on a three-man crusade, their heading set for Grima and Ganondorf.

"This isn't over yet! Grimleal!" From out of seemingly nowhere, Grima's faithful appeared and blocked the trio's path.

"I suppose now _is_ the time for minions." Ganondorf raised a hand, the triangle shape on the back of it lighting up. Several portals appeared across Grima's scales, releasing Twilight-infested creatures, including Risen. With the Grimleal streaming in via teleportation and the portals open, the dragon's back was soon crawling with monsters and lunatics.

"Link! Think you can get us through?" The mute man smiled at Robin, and took his enormous ball and chain out of its small pouch. "Chrom, duck!" The two crouched down as the huge hunk of metal started swinging around in the air, intimidating the Grimleal and practically ripping through the Twilight monsters. After a few more rotations, Link hurled the massive ball straight ahead, knocking over Grimleal and crushing monsters. The three dashed through the new opening, nothing left to impede their progress. Ganondorf smiled at them, and raised his hand again. This time, instead of portals bringing ungodly monsters to the fray, he created a barrier behind the trio of fighters to ensure no help would come.

"Hello again, boy." Link stared at Ganon with fury in his eyes, and tightened his grip on his sword. "Seems you've managed to interfere with my plans again. No matter. You can't stop me this time, kid; I'm stronger than ever." He placed his arms at his sides, widening his smile. At this, Link tensed.

"What's wrong?" Robin was really wishing that Link could talk right about now.

"Don't bother asking; he can't answer." Robin's attention returned to the two figures before them, one much more confident than the other. "I'm just missing a weak spot."

"Enough of this idle chatter!" Grima's eyes were glowing purple, his rage almost tangible. "It's time this ended! NOW!" The dragon's neck bent back, making his hideous head face the closest three Shepherds. Ganondorf sighed, then raised a fist in front of his face. The triangle on the back of his hand glowed once more, then his eyes followed suit. Soon, those three places were the only remaining lights on his body as he was engulfed in darkness, similar to Link's own transformation. However, this one was much more intimidating. He grew exponentially, gaining a few strange protrusions and an enlarged torso. He was down on all fours, the tint slowly going back to its orange-and-green usual. Robin and Chrom stood back in awe as a massive, evil-looking warthog-like creature now stood in the seven-foot man's place, staring them down with a confident, murderous glare.

"Finally! Now, DIE!" The dragon's head spewed purple fire at the trio, who instinctively dodged.

"Chrom; you get close to Grima. That new Falchion ought to hurt him more than anything else we can throw his way."

"On it!"

"Link, you… uh…" The green-clad warrior was already charging towards the enemy he knew, who was still just standing in place. "Sure, go with that." Robin turned his attention back to Grima, who was keeping Chrom at a distance with ease. Robin pulled out his Thoron tome and shot a quick blast of lightning at the dragon's incarnation, attempting to give Chrom an opening. Grima seemed to be a master of multitasking, however, and managed to have his form dodge the attack while his head kept fighting off Chrom. "Okay, not exactly what I had in mind…" As if to distract him more, a black sigil briefly appeared in front of him, then released Ganondorf's warthog form. Robin tried to move out of the way, but one of the monster's enormous tusks grazed his leg. Clutching it, Robin watched as the enormous swine disappeared again, only to reappear near Link, who moved into action. He ran towards the pig, putting his shield on his back, then let his feet fall out from under him. He was now sliding along the floor of scales on the shield, holding his sword flat against his chest. Ganondorf kept running, seemingly unable to stop, and went right over Link, who, with impeccable timing, lifted his sword up and let it slice across the monster's stomach. It kept going, soon disappearing into a self-created portal again, allowing Link to get back up. His expression wasn't the one Robin expected to see, however. Normally, in fights, Link would have either a determined look when going up against huge odds, or he would have a smile when he figured out what to do. This time, he had a look of worry about him.

"Damn!" Chrom got sent flying back and landed near Robin, panting from exhaustion as he got up. "This isn't working!"

"Don't have to tell me that." Robin stood as well, hobbling slightly from his newest injury. "We need to distract him."

"Okay, but how?"

"Give me a second…" That second was quite literal, as Link came running up to the two, the familiar sparkle of an idea in his eye. "You've got a plan?" He nodded. "What is it?" He pointed at the two beasts, then smashed his hands together. "Of course! Why didn't I think of that?"

"...What?" Chrom looked as puzzled as ever.

"And that's the reason why I'm the tactician. Chrom, I need you to keep Grima's attacks focussed on one area."

"Okay."

"Link, it's your plan, so I assume you know what to do." He nodded, then charged back to the demon pig, who seemed to have lost its bearings, making that small conversation they just had possible. Assuming that Link could handle himself, Robin moved off to help Chrom.

"There's nothing you can do!" Grima seemed to have gained some confidence after Ganondorf's transformation. "You should have joined me when I gave you the chance! Now you will all fall!"

"No; you'll be the one who falls today!" Chrom moved in to attack again, and was forced to retreat once more. "I hope you know what you're doing, Robin."

"Of course I do!" A bolt of electricity shot past as Robin joined Chrom in his attempt at distraction. They smiled at each other, then continued the assault. Their distraction seemed to draw on for hours due to the constant dodging while trying to keep Grima's attacks to one location, when it was really only a few minutes. At some point, Robin managed to glance over at Link to see his progress, which was surprisingly bad. He couldn't seem to coax the monster to where he wanted it. Link was now battered and bruised, his frustration with things not going entirely the way he wanted them to starting to show. "Chrom, think you'll be okay on your own?"

"Yes; just hurry!" Chrom jumped back as another blast of purple fire landed at his feet. "Go!" Robin nodded, then turned and shot another arc of lightning towards the reappearing warthog-like demon. It hit him square on the nose, but didn't even seem to phase the beast. It did, however, change his focus. The next portal appeared right next to Robin, thankfully allowing him enough time to move, and almost shot the evil pig out. Robin looked to Link again, who seemed to have caught the idea. He shot past Robin, headed closer to Chrom, and took out his bow, waiting for a chance. Ganon reappeared, Robin moved, Link shot, and Chrom finally caught on.

"Oh! So that's-" He was interrupted by another blast of purple fire.

"It's hopeless! We're invincible!"

"We'll see about that!" Chrom moved back this time, taunting Grima. Grima was so frayed at this point that he almost immediately attacked, not noticing Chrom's proximity to Robin, who had just aggravated Ganon. The two nodded at each other, then stood in wait. As soon as Ganon reappeared, they jumped out of the way, and Grima's foul breath made a direct hit on Ganon. It sent the creature flying into the barrier, almost shattering it and making an enormous crack in the demon's tusk.

"Careful, you imbecile!"

"Me?!" Ganon got up, his eyes glowing red from rage. "You were the one who-" He was interrupted by Link, who managed to force his sword straight through the newly-formed crack in Ganon's tusk. The monster reared in pain, his whole body turning black once more, the transformation back to fightable figure commencing. At the same time, Robin and Chrom had gotten close enough to Grima to actually do some damage. Robin's Thoron didn't seem to phase him, but a single slice from Falchion sent the doppelganger reeling back, holding the spot where the blade went through his body.

"Gah! Insolent fools! You will rue this act!" Grima's actual head came down towards them at a breakneck speed with the intent of crushing. Robin and Chrom only just avoided the attack, but lost their footing due to the shockwave of skull against scales. This knockback dizzied Grima, and allowed Robin to get a quick glance over at Link, who was now facing Ganondorf solo. They were clashing with a sword made of light that Ganon had summoned against Link's incredible blade. Robin could practically feel the energy exploding off of the two weapons every time they crashed together, sparks flying in every direction. He noted the determined expression that was back on Link's face, and he was confident that their otherworldly friend could handle this on his own. The Grandmaster's attention went back to his and Chrom's fight, which was starting to turn in their favour. Grima wasn't making the smartest decisions, occasionally attacking the wrong place, which allowed for Chrom to get in close and cut across him with his Falchion. Robin ran up and joined the fray, trying to distract Grima even more by sending Thorons his way.

"I guess smashing your head against your body isn't the best idea!" He was also trying to get under Grima's skin.

"Facing me is a worse one!" The hideous head came around to face Robin, only for it to reel back in pain as Chrom hit his human form once more. A shout of rage came from both Ganon and Grima, as the dragon's head came in and forced Chrom back, while Ganondorf jumped into place next to Grima. "What are you doing?!"

"That kid is annoying me; he was trying to fight me using a fishing rod!" Link arrived next to Robin, giving what could only be described as a cocky smirk.

"Did you really do that?" The expansion of his smile was all the answer Robin needed. "Way to go."

"You dare treat this like a game?!" Apparently, Grima's rant wasn't over. "This is the battle for the world! This is where you all- Gah!" Electricity racked Grima's body.

"This is where we all win."

"I like your attitude, kid. Shame you're going to die." Ganondorf lunged forward, but was stopped by Link, who jumped in front of Robin and deflected the sword strike with his shield. Ganon stepped back, his arrogant air changing to one of anger. "Stop getting in my way!" Link thrust his sword at the man, making him back up next to Grima again. Robin looked at the duo of enemies before them, and saw how weakened they were. _Two more ought to do it._

"Chrom, Link; this might be it!" The two swordsmen looked at each other, nodded, then held their swords at their sides. The two legendary weapons met in the middle, making sparks fly as they simultaneously charged towards the two evil forces. Falchion grew ever brighter as it approached its somewhat counterpart, and the light reflected off of Link's sword, making a point of almost pure light amongst the darkness on Grima's back. The light blinded the two it was going up against, giving the perfect opening for the swords to slash across their respective enemies' torsos. As the light cleared, Grima and Ganondorf were down on their knees, obviously in excruciating pain from the hit.

"Robin; I'm going to end this!" Chrom raised Falchion again, ready to strike down Grima. Robin took the moment of hesitation and ran between them, the mark of Grima beginning to give off a soft purple light. "What are you doing?!" He didn't answer; he simply gave what he presumed would be his final nod to Link, and reached into the darkest parts of himself in order to grab hold of a small portion of Grima's power. A ball of dark energy grew in the center of his marked hand, growing bigger and bigger until Robin had to raise it above his head so that it wouldn't collide with his own body. At the same time, Link jumped high into the air, sword at the ready. Time seemed to slow for Robin, and all his senses heightened as he looked around at the people he had come to think of as family for what he assumed to be the final time. _I'll miss you all, but it's for the best._ He threw his hand forward, and the ball of darkness encapsulated Grima entirely.

"NO!" Amongst the swirling mass of energy, Robin could faintly make out Grima's form dissolving into nothing. He looked over and saw Link with his sword stuck right between Ganondorf's eyes, the life draining from the man's green-skinned body.

"How… did I lose… again?!" He went limp, and Link withdrew his sword from the seven-foot monster's head. He turned and gave a brief smile at Robin, which faded almost instantly. Robin looked at his right hand to see it becoming a purple mist.

"Wait! No!" He looked up to see Lissa, Owain and Morgan running through the disappearing magical barrier, tears staining all of their faces. "Don't leave! We need you!"

"I'm sorry." They all crashed into his slowly fading form, embracing him in one of the most crushing hugs in history.

"No, Dad, don't go! There's still so much you have to teach me!"

"Don't leave us, Father! I need to learn from your legendary example!"

"There's still so much we haven't done! Please stay!" Robin was now in tears as well, hugging back with all the remaining vigor his body had.

"There isn't much I can do about it. Please, no matter what happens to me, keep living. Be all you can be, and don't let anyone ever tell you otherwise." He was almost gone by now, only an outline of his former self remaining. "I love you…" His last words echoed into the distance, his body gone and spirit now free. Grima and Ganondorf were defeated that day, but the world lost someone very special to it.

The fight was over, the war had been won; but the cost was steep. Robin, Grandmaster Tactician of Ylisse, was gone.

 **A/N: Happy New Year! Well, 2016 has rolled around, and this story is almost done. This chapter took a little longer to get out because I wanted to make it as incredible as possible for all you readers (plus, you don't want it to end so quickly, do you?); I can only hope I did you guys justice. So, as always, be sure to review or PM with any concerns, comments or questions you may have. Oh, and be warned: the next Author's Note will probably be extremely long, so watch out for that. Only one chapter left, guys!**


	24. Chapter 24

Robin opened his eyes to see… not much difference, actually. Darkness surrounded him on all sides, making it very difficult to discern where he was.

" _So, this is death, huh?"_ He looked around again. " _Not so bad. It's all warm and comfortable."_ As his eyes adjusted to the infinite darkness, he started to notice little points of light floating around. They seemed like small dust particles caught in a ray of sunlight, constantly disappearing and reappearing at will. Robin reached out a hand and swept it through them, making them scatter; all except one. It stayed where it was, making Robin feel as if it was looking up at him. Again, he reached out, this time with only a finger, and touched it. In an instant, everything around him changed into a very familiar setting. Robin now found himself lying on the ground, staring up at clouds through the branches of an apple tree; his favourite one just outside of Ylisstol. He could faintly feel the soft grass on his back and he could smell ripe apples mixed with the spring breeze. " _Isn't this…"_

"What about… that one!" He saw a finger that wasn't his point at one of the clouds.

"Hmm…" This time, it was his own voice. "A tome!"

"No, no, no!" His vision shifted to look over at the other voice's source: a blonde girl with pigtails and a frustrated smile. "You're still thinking too smart! Try being more fun!"

"Hey!"

"What, it's true! You need to relax more." A loud sigh came from Robin, and his view shifted back to the sky. He could feel a smile going across his face.

"That one," his hand pointed at a cloud, "looks like a frog."

"Huh?" He could hear Lissa's head shifting, attempting to see the cloud. "Where? I don't see a frog."

"That's because…" His view moved again, his other hand popping into view complete with summoned frog. "It's here!" He stuffed it down the back of her shirt and she gave a loud squeal, jumping up and frantically clawing at her back. Robin could hear himself laughing hysterically, slowly blurring his vision with tears. At some point, Lissa managed to get the frog out of her outfit.

"Jerk!"

"Just… just repaying you!" He felt an intense pressure in his chest as Lissa decided to sit on him. The laughing of both parties began to fade into the background, the scene becoming more and more distorted until he was returned to the dust-filled dark.

" _So these…"_ He moved his hand through the specks again, " _Are memories. That one was just after Gangrel's defeat."_ He looked around, noting the sheer number of memories floating in the void. " _So death is reliving memories? I can do that."_ He walked around a little bit more, trying to see if there was any way of telling which memories were which. " _Bet you Morgan could figure something out. Her strange way of seeing things could work really well here."_ Out of the corner of his eye, he could see one of the specks grow slightly brighter. He walked up and touched it, the scene unfolding around him. He was in his shared tent, a desk with a chessboard between himself and Morgan, and Lissa and Owain asleep on their bed. His daughter had on a face that was trying to be serious, but ended up making her look sillier. Viewing Robin noticed that she was close to winning.

"Hmm…" She had her hand hovering over a particular piece, all the gears turning in her head. In a flash, she seemed to change her mind and grabbed a different piece, moved it across the board, then sat back triumphantly. "Check."

"Very nice." Robin's vision moved slightly, focussing more on the chessboard. His arm went out and moved a piece, a smile forming on his face. "But not nice enough. Checkmate."

"What?! Awwww!" Morgan slumped her head down on the table. "I thought I had it!"

"It was a good try, kiddo; but it's going to take a lot more than that to beat me."

"Then I'll have to find out what that 'more' is!" She got up and dashed out of the tent, making Owain roll over in his sleep. He looked back down at the board to see that he was one move away from losing.

"You're almost there, Morgan." The scene blurred away, becoming the darkness once more. Robin's mind moved to Owain, and another speck started to shine brighter than the rest. He walked up to it, but hesitated before touching it, trying to figure out what it would be.

" _So… it's when I think about someone? Interesting…"_ He touched it, and the landscape changed again. This time, he was on a walk in the forest. " _Okay, what's this one?"_ He could hear the faint sounds of fighting coming from nearby, though his memory self didn't seem too distressed. He silently strode up to a tree on the edge of a clearing, moonlight shining down on a solitary figure training their hardest. His white hair flew every which way, synchronizing with his erratic yet fluid movements.

"Divine… DRAGON!" His blade became a blur, seemingly mimicking a dragon's fire. "Excellent! The… scion of… heroes… is reborn!" He held his sword high, glinting in the moonlight. "Mother, Father… you won't die… not this time…" Robin could feel himself smiling at the practicing swordsman, trying to will his memory into going up and talking to Owain. That's not how it played out, though, as he merely sat down and watched his future son practice for hours, perfecting his 'special techniques'. As it went on, Robin was more and more content with just watching; observing how far Owain had come. They were interrupted by the sun coming up above the horizon, engulfing the memory in light until it vanished again, leaving him in the dark void. Robin got up from his seat on the floor and stretched, still feeling the effects of sitting on the ground for hours.

" _I liked that one, though it was a bit uncomfortable."_ Another floating speck caught his eye not too far away, and he opened the memory. He was sitting again,this time with soft grass beneath him and a tree against his back. Before him stretched the endless horizon, coloured red and orange by the setting sun. He felt a pressure against his shoulder, and managed to spot a pair of familiar golden pigtails out of the corner of his eye. An arm went around Lissa's slumbering figure, which snuggled closer to him. His body leaned back into the tree even more, the serenity of the moment fully enveloping him. It was broken when a loud snore came from nearby, and Robin quickly turned his head to see Owain and Morgan lying nearby, as sound asleep as their mother. Robin shook his head, looking back at the sunset. A contented smile crossed his face as a breeze blew across the four of them. Robin wished that he could stay in this moment forever, never having to return to the dark void. That wasn't in the cards for him, however, as his memory self's eyes began to close. As the darkness of his eyelids came down, the specks slowly reappeared. When it had fully dissolved, Robin fell back, arms spread wide. His vision was blurred, and he could feel a small something trickling down his face.

After laying like this for a little while, Robin got up and swept his sleeve across his face, looking around again. He explored the area a little bit more, opening up as many memories as he could. Most of them were short little things with each of the Shepherds, bar one. He was beginning to wonder where that particular one was when he noticed a patch of slightly green specks floating separate from the clump of others. He walked over and opened them, finally seeing whom he was wondering about.

" _There he is; our warrior from another realm."_ He started to go through them, somehow managing to get them in perfect chronological order. He went past Link's arrival through the bright portal; the moment when he discovered Link had someone back where he came from; the realization that the boy would not kill other humans; the first time he revealed his taugel-like abilities; their time spent getting to know each other on the voyage to Valm; Link's incredible ability to devastate a Valmese ship almost single-handedly; Lucina's aversion to the otherworldly warrior; Link and Owain's almost instant friendship; the one-hit defeat of the enormous spider monster; Link's precision with his incredible bow on the moving pillars; his professionalism at slaying the enormous knight; the quick arrival and defeat of their first Shadow Beasts; Link's victory over the relentless red dragon; the smiting of both Excellus and the ghost-like figure; Link's emotional turmoil after Excellus' death; their first meeting with Ganondorf; Link shielding him from a distraught Lucina; the termination of the skeletal monstrosity; both Validar's and the masked man's deaths; the meeting with Link's bony friend; Aversa's final moments and, most recently, their win over two god-like figures. The last image that Robin had was of Link standing triumphantly over his vanquished foe's body, a small smirk on his face. When the memory ended, Robin sighed.

" _I'm gonna miss all of them."_ Out of a large dark spot, one of the specks started to grow brighter and brighter. Robin cautiously went over to it, shielding his eyes from the intense light. " _What in the name of Naga…?"_ Before anything else could happen, the light enveloped him, and as quickly as it had come, it vanished. He was in darkness again, but something felt different. He felt as if he was lying down in a grassy field, a gentle morning breeze flowing through his hair. _This is… different._

"Well, we can't just leave him there!" A voice broke his thought. _Isn't this…_

"What do you propose we do?" _It is! I'll gladly relive this._ His eyes slowly opened to Lissa and Chrom standing over him, debating.

"Oh!" They leaned down and smiled at him.

"I see you're awake now."

"Hey there."

"There are better places to take a nap than on the ground, you know. Give me your hand." The blue-haired man offered his hand to the prone tactician, which he reached out and took. There was a problem, though. The mark of Grima on the back of his hand was gone. _Come to think of it, this hasn't exactly been like the last few memories. Everything feels… real._ As Chrom pulled him up, his smile widened. "Welcome back; it's over now."

"Back? Then…" Robin looked around and flexed his hands. "I'm not dead? I'm really here?!" His answer came in the form of Lissa slamming him to the ground in one of the most energetic hugs he had ever received; and that was saying something.

"You're finally home!" She gave him quite the kiss, tears streaming down her face, before backing up and giving him a light slap across the cheek. "You didn't have to keep me waiting so long!"

"How long was I gone?"

"Ten months. You had us all quite worried." Chrom was still beaming.

"Ten months?! Then Owain…" He got an affirming nod from Lissa. "Well, where is he? I want to meet him."

"He's with Frederick and Cherche. They want to make sure they're ready for their own! Oh, and Link's helping."

"Link's still here? I thought he would have gone home already."

"Us too! I think he wanted to stay and see you again. Can't say I blame him!"

"Come on; everyone's waiting. We're taking you home."

Robin's return was greeted with plenty of enthusiasm. Many of the male Shepherds bear-hugged him half to death, Tharja practically stepped on his heels everywhere he went, Kellam managed to stay visible for longer than Robin even thought possible, and Owain, the older one, decided to put on a play that evening. Robin also got to meet his son when Cherche and Frederick arrived, bringing Link and Gerome along. As soon as Gerome arrived, he said his hellos to Robin then instantly headed for Lucina. This followed a trend that Robin was noticing; it seemed like all the future children had found someone. Two of them he was a bit wary of; Laurent was following Morgan everywhere, and Severa was practically attached to Owain. Cynthia and Inigo seemed to be hanging around each other quite a bit, Brady was watching over Noire, and Kjelle was looking embarrassedly happy as Yarne held her hand. Nah was missing, along with several of the other Shepherds. It turned out that her, Nowi and Ricken had gone off on a bit of an adventure, Virion and Olivia had gone back to Roseanne, and Maribelle and Lon'qu were back in Ferox. Despite the loss, the turnout was still quite grand. They all laughed, ate, and drank well into the night, Owain's play giving them plenty of fuel. After everything had settled down, Robin got to sleep in his own bed, Lissa in his arms and little Owain lying asleep in the same room. All this happiness he felt would soon be offset.

The next day, they discovered a note that Link had left behind. He was headed to where he first arrived in Ylisse, and was planning on going home. As quickly as they could, the Shepherds rushed to the area, intent on at least saying one last goodbye to their friend. They sent a messenger to Ferox as well, hoping that Lon'qu, Maribelle, Flavia and Basilio could all make it in time. And so, in as short a time as possible, the Shepherds and Khans found themselves walking through the snowy forest toward an opening that was all too familiar.

"So," Chrom spoke up, "this is it, then."

"Yeah, I guess it is." Robin didn't exactly know what to feel. On the one hand, he was glad that the lost boy finally got to go home; but on the other, he didn't want to see his friend leave.

"And right after you came back. Get one friend back, lose another. It feels a bit cruel, honestly."

"Hey, at least he's not leaving us for the afterlife."

"True. Speak of the devil…" They looked ahead and saw a lone green figure sitting on a snow-covered log. His back was turned to them, strange hat moving occasionally in the cold winds. Someone stepped on a twig, his head snapped around to look at them, and he smiled. "Did you plan on leaving without saying goodbye?" Link's smile grew.

"Must you leave, my skilled friend?" Owain asked. Link's smile became much sadder, and he nodded. "I understand. You have important duties to take care of elsewhere. Fear not, for we shall meet again! If not in this life, then in the next!"

"Cut it out, Owain!"

"Hey, no scolding him, missy! That's our job!"

"I wouldn't advise arguing with her, Severa. Besides, he has the right idea; albeit a bit emphasized. We just have to keep hoping that we'll see him again someday." Robin turned and smiled at Link, whose expression had brightened considerably.

"Yeah, yeah; we're gonna miss ya kid and all that, but don't you gotta get going?"

"Show a bit of tact for once in your life, oaf!"

"But Mister Basilio's right, Khan Flavia!" Everyone looked at Morgan. "We're keeping Link away from his family back home, whom he hasn't seen in a very, very long time. He needs to get back as soon as possible."

"The idiot could have said it better, though." Chrom cleared his throat to bring attention to him.

"Let's stop discussing it and start watching it, shall we?" He gestured to Link, who was awkwardly standing in the middle of the snowy clearing. Chrom nodded to him, and he returned the gesture. Link reached into his tunic, surprisingly enough, and pulled out a small, horseshoe-shaped instrument. He started playing a short tune on it, leaving everyone to question what was happening. As the music continued, three points of light appeared behind him, constantly growing larger and brighter. Eventually, they formed the same tri-triangled shape that had brought Link to them with the same golden glow. They watched in silent respect and sadness as the boy's semi-silhouette turned and walked towards the symbol. Just as he reached it, he turned and looked at his audience, sadness evident in his blue eyes. He inhaled and opened his mouth; but was consumed by the light, which quickly increased in brightness, and vanished just as fast. It left the Shepherds standing in the cold snow, their biggest source of light gone, along with their friend. Robin looked sadly around at his assembled friends, then turned to leave.

"Come on; there's nothing more we can do." He felt a bit dejected by the departure, especially since he couldn't help the feeling that something was left unsaid. As a sigh was more felt than uttered from everyone, they trundled back through the snow and into the woods. Before they left the clearing, Robin took one last look at where Link had disappeared, and stopped. "Hold on! Everyone come back!"

"Robin! What's…" Chrom was left with his jaw hanging open as the lights returned, bathing the area in the symbol's golden glow once more. Despite the hopes of everyone there, it was not Link who emerged from it, but a woman about his age. She had long brown hair tied into one long braid down her back, a white and purple dress, and she wore some kind of tiara. This time, the symbol behind her only faded, and didn't disappear completely. She spotted the company, and gave a kind smile.

"Would you happen to be the group called 'the Shepherds'?"

"Yes, we are the Shepherds." Chrom was extremely confused, along with everyone else.

"I am a friend of Link's, here to give you a message." An idea struck Robin.

"Excuse me, but you wouldn't happen to be named Ilia, would you?"

"No, she is back with Link. I am Zelda."

"Please, Zelda; what is this message?" She smiled at Chrom again.

"He merely wishes to say thank you, and hopes that you will all meet again. He also asked me to give the one called Robin this." She outstretched one of her gloved hands, showing off the item. It was a smaller version of Link's flute, whittled out of Valmese wood. Robin walked forward and gently took it from her hand, turning it over in his. Inscribed in the exact same spot that said 'Ilia' on Link's was 'Thank you'.

"Th… thank you for bringing this."

"It was the least I could do to show my gratitude to you all for keeping Link safe." Her head sharply turned to the still visible symbol as if hearing someone call her name. "I apologize, but I must leave now; I have duties to oversee." She gave them a small curtsey. "It was a pleasure and a privilege to meet you all." Robin stepped back as Zelda went the other way, the area's light intensifying. When they could see again, they were left standing in the snow once more. There was a much better air all around, though it still had a small hint of sadness. Robin looked down at the instrument in his hand, and closed his fingers around it.

"So long as there aren't any more surprises," Chrom, again, turned everyone's attention, "we should get going. Don't want anyone to catch a cold."

"We're much closer to Ferox; why don't you Ylisseans stay the night?"

"Thank you, Flavia; the hospitality is much appreciated." The entire group walked back into the snow-covered forest, with Robin looking back one last time. This time, nothing happened. He glanced back down at the object in his hand, reading the inscription again.

"No; thank you." He sped up, not wanting to be left alone on a snowy night.

Both Hyrule and Ylisse were now safe… for now.

 **A/N: For those of you wondering, the song is meant to be Zelda's Lullaby, but I couldn't find a good way to imply that in-story. Now, on to the real business: we're done! This story has come to a close, and I'm left feeling relieved and sad. I've seriously enjoyed writing this for you guys, and being a small part of so many lives. I never would have thought that my little project would get so much attention from so many different places. I want to really thank each and every one of you who've read this from beginning to end, and an even bigger thanks to everyone who was there from the beginning. Just being able to hear your opinions on what I've written has inspired me to do so much more, and has made me realize just how much I love writing for others. Again, I just want to thank you all so much for everything you may have done with this story, whether it be just read it, follow it, favourite it, or review on it. And, hey, if you have any stories that you want me to check out, feel free to PM me with either something you think I would like or something you've written; my door's always open (especially if this story was of any inspiration). I've left you here long enough; go enjoy other stories! So long, and thanks for all the fish.**


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